It’s a Major Threesome at Bay Hill

Reigning British Open champion Justin Leonard was the odd man out Saturday, his one-under-par 143 far behind the leaders at the Bay Hill Invitational.

Those leaders were Masters champion Tiger Woods, PGA champion Davis Love III and U.S. Open champion Ernie Els, and they will play 36 holes as the final group today.

“It’s a great leaderboard,” said Woods, who scrambled his way around the Bay Hill Club at Orlando, Fla., for a two-under 70 to catch Love at 10-under 134 after two rounds. Els was two back at 136.

“We have kind of separated ourselves a little bit,” Woods said. “We’ll have a great round out there tomorrow. We’ll enjoy each other’s company and hopefully play well.”

They will have to play two great rounds to win because of four rain delays over the first two days of the event.

“It’s going to be not only a test of golf but a test of durability,” said Love, who has two runner-up finishes at Bay Hill.

Said Scott Hoch, who is in a group at 139: “We’ll find out tomorrow how stupid the assessment was by that judge who said that walking is not fatiguing.”

Hoch was referring to the federal ruling that allowed Casey Martin to use a cart on the Nike Tour.

The tournament has the best field of the year, with 36 of the top 50 in the world. Woods is ranked No. 1, Els is No. 2 and Love is No. 4.

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Liselotte Neumann shot a four-under 69 to extend her lead in the Standard Register Ping at Phoenix, all but eliminating Laura Davies’ bid for a history-making fifth consecutive win in the tournament.

Neumann’s 54-hole score of 14-under 205 put her four strokes ahead of Robin Jones, who moved into second with the day’s low round of 67 in the LPGA event.

Davies got back on track after a disastrous round Friday that included a quadruple-bogey nine on the fourth hole. She shot a bogey-free 69, but it still left her 11 shots behind Neumann.

Neumann, who has finished second twice this year, started with four birdies on the front nine. After bogeying the fifth hole, she birdied Nos. 7 and 8 to reach 13 under and open a five-shot lead at the turn.

Jones got within three shots with a 17-foot birdie putt on the sixth hole, 18-footers on Nos. 14 and 15 and a 25-footer on No. 17. She had two other birdies.

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The team of David Graham and Hugh Baiocchi overcame cold, blustery winds to shoot an eight-under 64 and take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf senior event at Amelia Island, Fla.

Graham and Baiocchi are at 127 through two rounds over the Golf Club of Amelia Island and lead by one over the best-ball teams of Charles Coody-Dale Douglass and Dave Stockton-Larry Nelson.

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Peter Mitchell of England shot a six-under 67 for a three-round total of 15-under 204 and a one-stroke lead over Scotsman Peter Lawrie after the third round of the Portuguese Open at Portimao.

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Oscar Serna shot an eight-under 64 for a 12-under 204 total and a one-shot lead over John Elliott entering the final round of the Nike Monterrey Open in Mexico.

Casey Martin, playing his second tournament since winning a decision against the PGA Tour allowing him to ride a cart because of a physical disability, was tied for 18th at 210 after a 70.