Owen, Gomez share lead in Memphis

Memphis, TN - Greg Owen and Fabian Gomez both carded 3- under 67s in Saturday's third round and they share the lead at the St. Jude Classic.

The duo finished 54 holes at 9-under-par 201. Owen and Gomez have both won on the Web.com Tour, but are searching for their first PGA Tour win.

Brooks Koepka, who was atop the leaderboard after the first two rounds, made his first birdie of the day at the 18th to wrap up a 1-over 71. He shares third place at TPC Southwind with Scott Brown (68) at minus-8.

Matt Jones (68) and Austin Cook (72) are tied for fifth at minus-6, while David Toms (69) headlines a group of eight players that share seventh place at 5-under-par 205.

Steven Alker and Koepka traded the lead early as they both eagled the third. Koepka wrapped bogeys at two and four around his eagle however.

Gomez tripped to a bogey at the first, but drained back-to-back 5-foot birdie efforts at two and three. After another 5-footer for birdie at five, Gomez rolled in a 6-foot birdie putt on the sixth for his fourth birdie in five holes.

That burst moved Gomez into a tie for the lead with Koepka at 9-under. Koepka dropped a shot at the fifth to slip one back, but Gomez bogeyed the 11th to also drop to minus-8. They shared the lead with Cook.

Koepka and Cook both bogeyed the 10th to hand Gomez the lead by himself. Owen, who had seven pars and two birdies on the front nine, dropped a shot at 10. His 10-foot birdie putt on the 14th gave him a piece of the lead.

Gomez dropped another shot at 13 to dip one back at 7-under. Cook joined Owen in the lead with a gain at 12, then Gomez made it a 3-way tie as he poured in a 34-footer for birdie at 15.

Cook dumped his tee shot at the par-3 14th in the water and fell out of the lead with a bogey. He also found water at 18 to drop three off the lead.

Brown birdied the 15th and 16th to join Owen atop the leaderboard at minus-8. Brown was the sixth player to grab a piece of the lead during the third round.

Gomez followed a birdie at 15 with a 2-putt birdie at 16 to move to 9-under. Owen, who shared the first-round lead, birdied the last to join Gomez in the lead.

"It was a tough day out there. The greens were firm and quick, and the breeze is swirls around here. On 16, I hit a good second shot and came up 20 yards shot," Owen said. "I'm cleaning up around the green. I'm reading the greens well and my pace is good."

Gomez parred the final two holes to end there.

"The birdie chances on the front were close, but I made a great putt at 15," Gomez said. "When you make some putts, your confidence gets higher and the rest of the game gets easier."

NOTES: Owen has a piece of the 54-hole for the first time on the PGA Tour, while Gomez was in that position once before at the 2013 Puerto Rico Open, where he finished second ... Both players have finished second on the PGA Tour ... Only 10 of 29 third-round leaders have won on tour this season ... Matt Every withdrew after the third round due to a wrist injury.