LEADER MUST TRY TO SHAKE OFF SUNDAY SWEATS.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

You've got to feel sorry for Ted Tryba, leading the Nissan Open the way he is, which is temporarily.

Seems like such a decent fellow. Hard-working and talented too. Popular with his fellow golfers.

Too bad they're about to eat him for brunch.

It's not just that he's Ted Tryba. The victim could be anybody who's nobody on the PGA Tour.

It's not just that he's at the top of a Rivera Country Club leaderboard that includes Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Davis Love III - three major winners - and David Duval - the world's hottest golfer. A lot of guys would love to be in their positions going into the final round of a $2.8 million tournament.

It's just that this is Sunday. And the overnight leader's collapse in a puddle of cold sweat is as much a Sunday institution as church, lawn mowers and ``Gilligan's Island'' reruns.

Particularly when the overnight leader is a one-time tour winner who might feel a little unsure of his place on that leaderboard given the fact most fans haven't a clue how to pronounce his name (tree-buh).

As Els said drolly on Saturday after he joined Woods and Love at 11 under par, two strokes behind Tryba with 18 holes to play: ``I think Ted Tryba's going to have an uneasy night tonight.''

But oh, how bravely Tryba spoke after his course-record 61 in the third round.

``Just go to the (driving) range, take a couple of good swings, loosen up and hope you brought your `A' game,'' Tryba said of his approach to leading the final group on the final day.

Yeah, right.

Ask Justin Leonard, who has been one of the best Sunday players on the tour and says it's an acquired talent. Leonard was 25 when he went into the last 18 holes of the 1997 Kemper Open trailing by five strokes and rallied to win. It was a rite of passage.

``I got to the British Open at Troon a month later and I was in the same situation,'' said Leonard, who trailed Jesper Parnevik after three rounds. ``Knowing I'd done it before made me realize it was possible (to win).''

Leonard shot a 65 to win his first major tournament by three.

As for Parnevik, who had the pressure of waking up Sunday with the lead, he shot a 73 to finish in a tie for second.

``Your attitude is certainly different when you're trying to come from behind,'' Leonard said. ``You know you have to be aggressive, so there isn't a whole lot of strategy.

``Playing with the lead, you kind of try to play steady and pick your spots. The best advice is to keep doing what you've been doing. You've obviously been playing well if you're leading.''

Easy advice to follow if you've been there and done that before.

``Sunday is it. You can go out and be aggressive,'' Woods said enthusiastically. ``I can't wait to get out there and feel the butterflies.''

Woods insists he tries no harder on Sundays. He just plays better.

``I just seem to make a few more birdies on the weekend than I do during the week,'' he said.

Woods has such a knack for rising to the occasion that he believes he's merely taking advantage of pin placements made easier on weekends because the tour wants to dazzle TV viewers with low scores. In fact, a tour spokesman said, the weekend pin placements aren't meant to be easier at all.

When your name is Tiger, Ernie or Davis III, all the Sunday putts seem to be uphill.

When your name is Ted, well. . . .

Last year at Torrey Pines, Scott Simpson made up eight strokes in the final round to tie the record for a PGA Tour rally. It was a charge in the Arnold Palmer tradition. But such heroics are memorable because they're rare. A great Sunday rarely makes up for a rotten week. Only nine times in the 45 tour events last year did the winner shoot his best round on Sunday. That's exactly as often as the winner shot his best round on Saturday.

The player - or players in the case of ties - who teed off with the lead on Sunday morning went on to win the tournament in about half of the tour events last year. The player - or players - in second place won about one-fifth of the time and others surged to victory about one-third of the time.

Sound easy, Ted?

The only question is how it will end.

With a snap-hook into the tennis courts alongside the first fairway? With a skulled chip shot into the mid-green bunker on the sixth? With a sweaty-palmed, 10-foot, downhill, par putt that rolls only eight feet on the 13th?

Or with the slow torture of a dozen birdie opportunities missed because the vise grip of Sunday pressure cuts off the blood supply to your muscles and your imagination?

With the mispronounceable Mr. Tryba clutching one of the huge cardboard checks the PGA Tour gives to tournament winners?

Possibly.

Possibly.

And, not bloody likely.

``I don't think Ernie and Tiger are going to be uncomfortable (today),'' Love said pointedly. ``Experience is good and being successful makes the experience worth a lot more.''

Of course it's all relative. Even a two-time U.S. Open winner like Els can feel intimidated by this leaderboard.

``Maybe I'm in a better situation, not being in that (final) group,'' Els said. ``I won't have to look at Tiger.''

WHO'S GOING TO WIN?

The Daily News' Kevin Modesti applies his experience as a horse-racing writer to handicap the contenders going into today's final round of the Nissan Open:

Player (standing) Comment Odds

Tiger Woods (2, tie) Class counts in the stretch 8-5

Ernie Els (2, tie) Sharp in 1st start of year 5-1

David Duval (5, tie) Mr. 59 is always dangerous 6-1

Ted Tryba (1) 3rd-round leaders win 50% 8-1

Nick Price (7, tie) Once made up 7 strokes, won 12-1

Davis Love III (2, tie) Sunday stats don't impress 15-1

Billy Mayfair (7, tie) Won '98 Nissan in a playoff 15-1

Bob Estes (7, tie) 66, 67, 72 . . . form slipping? 20-1

Jerry Kelly (5, tie) First Tour win is the hardest 20-1

Rocco Mediate (7, tie) '98 Sunday scoring rank: 154th 30-1

Kenny Perry (13, tie) Been tough in final rounds 30-1

Vijay Singh (16, tie) PGA champ is 7 strokes back 30-1

Others It would take a miracle 50-1

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

PHOTO (Color) Bob Estes, the second-round leader, trails Ted Tryba by five strokes. He'll be joining Ernie Els, Tiger Woods and other pursuers today.

John McCoy/Daily News

BOX: WHO`S GOING TO WIN? (see text)