POTOMAC - As they walked to the sixth tee yesterday at the Tournament Players Club at Avenel, Craig Barlow asked Greg Norman about a long-forgotten event that Norman had won in Las Vegas.
As they were talking, Norman was leading the $3.6 million Kemper Insurance Open by two shots.
"I think it was 1986," recalled Norman, who was the No. 1 player in the world at the time.
"I was just a young kid," said Barlow, who was working at the tournament as a teen-age standard bearer holding the scoreboard for Norman's group.
"You're making me feel very old," Norman said with a laugh.
Within moments, Norman started looking very old. A double-bogey on the easy par-5 wiped out his lead, opening what turned out to be a revolving door of contenders in the third round.
By the time the round ended, Norman had fallen off the first page of the leader board that had been taken over by a pile of much-less-accomplished players.
It became a battle of the Bobs. At 10-under-par 203, Bob Burns and Bob Estes share a one-stroke lead over Bob May and Jay Williamson. All three Bobs shot 2-under 69 to get in contention; Williamson finished with a 67.
Four players - 1999 Kemper champion Rich Beem, Duffy Waldorf, Andrew Magee and first-round leader Franklin Langham - were two strokes behind. Norman, after shooting 3-over-par 74, was three back, tied with 1997 Kemper champion Justin Leonard, Kirk Triplett, Steve Elkington and Willie Wood.
"Hopefully I got my bad round out of me today and I'll shoot a round in the mid-60s tomorrow," said Norman, a two-time Kemper Open champion who started the day with a two-stroke lead.
With the 93-degree heat and bright sunshine baking the greens, Norman was fortunate that nobody ran away with the tournament. No fewer than five players had the lead at one time or another.
"The course is playing so firm and fast that it's hard to get the ball close to the hole," Estes said.
Given that Estes, 36, has won three times in the past two years and is the highest-ranked player - 22nd in the world - in contention this week, he should have more confidence than players such as Burns, Williamson and May, none of whom has a PGA Tour victory.
Asked if he should be considered the favorite, Estes said: "I don't think so. If I had a three- or four-shot lead, maybe, but there are so many guys who are close. I think I would be considered one of the favorites given my world ranking and the way I've played the last two years."
The logjam at the top of the leader board set up the likelihood of a showdown on the back nine today, as well as the possibility of the tournament's fourth straight first-time winner.
May has won overseas, beating Colin Montgomerie down the stretch in the 1999 British Masters. Burns won a couple of Buy.com events, but has done no better than a tie for fifth at the 1994 Buick Classic. Williamson led after three rounds here in 1996 before fading to a tie for 23rd with a final-round 79.
"I think in '96, I wasn't quite ready to be out here," said Williamson, 35, whose best finish on tour has been a couple of fourth-place ties, including at the 1999 Pebble Beach AT&T.; "I didn't have the experience. But I've had five or six years to propel me."
Burns, 34, has knocked around the PGA Tour and Buy.com Tour since 1992, and even lost his card on both tours in 1997. He has survived a variety of physical ailments, including a testicular cancer scare in 1997, as well undisclosed personal problems.
"I don't know if I've gained journeyman status yet," he joked yesterday. "I'm more mature, I've learned a lot on the golf course. I think that will pay off tomorrow."
Like his less-accomplished competitors, Norman is hoping that the hard work he has put into his game in recent months will come to fruition here at Avenel. Everything seemed to be going his way until what seemed to be a well-struck 6-iron from 209 yards on the 520-yard sixth hole.
The ball appeared to be homing in on the flagstick when it suddenly splashed into a creek in front of the green. From the drop area, Norman chunked his wedge shot into heavy rough on the other side of the creek, then missed an 8-footer for bogey. The lead was gone, as was the bravado.
"I think the sixth hole took a lot of the wind out of my sails today," Norman said. "Walking off there with a 7 rather than a 4 really deflated me."
Norman seemed to recover when he parred No. 8. But he hit a poor tee shot into another creek, bogeyed the easy par-4 10th and played erratically the rest of the way.
Asked what it would mean to rally today for his first tournament win in four years, Norman, 47, said, "I won a tournament, I guess. I know I'm playing the ball well, hitting it solid. Today wasn't a good day but at the same time I didn't put myself out of the tournament."
Kemper Open
The leaders ...
Bob Burns 68-66-69-203
Bob Estes 65-69-69-203 ...
and selected followers
Jay Williamson 66-71-67-204 Bob May 68-67-69-204 Rich Beem 68-68-69-205 Franklin Langham 63-72-70-205 Duffy Waldorf 67-68-70-205 Andrew Magee 67-68-70-205 Justin Leonard 72-67-67-206 Kirk Triplett 71-67-68-206 Steve Elkington 70-67-69-206 Willie Wood 66-68-72-206 Greg Norman 67-65-74-206 Complete scores. [Page 12d]