Parry Leads a Tight Field

Craig Parry nearly missed his tee time for the opening round of the Ford Championship at Doral. He hasn’t missed much since.

Parry shot a five-under-par 67 in the third round Saturday at Miami, moving to 13-under 203 and taking a one-shot lead over Gene Sauers (64) and Scott Verplank (65).

Phil Mickelson, Joe Durant, Chris DiMarco and three others were two strokes back at 11 under. The tightly grouped field -- 18 players within five shots of Parry -- should make for an interesting final round on Doral’s beefed-up Blue Monster course.

“Anyone within eight shots can win,” Parry said.

Parry went 48 holes without a bogey before making one at the par-four 17th Saturday. His last bogey came on his fourth hole of the first round. Of course, he was still getting warmed up.

The Australian woke up less than 15 minutes before his 7:54 tee time, threw on a hodgepodge of clothes that included black pants, a blue belt and white shoes and headed for the first tee.

Parry said he was still jet-lagged from his overseas trip. He was one under in the opening round but 12 under in the 36 holes since.

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Mark O’Meara upstaged friend Tiger Woods, shooting a four-under 68 to share the third-round lead of the Dubai Desert Classic with Paul McGinley.

McGinley, who held a one-stroke lead after two rounds, shot a 69 and is tied with O’Meara at 14-under 202.

England’s Brian Davis had a 69 and was three strokes off the lead. Countrymen Simon Dyson (70) and Paul Casey (70) and first-round leader Bradley Dredge (72) were five back.

Woods shot a 69 and trails the leaders by six strokes. O’Meara has not won an official tour event since the British Open in 1998.

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Graham Marsh of Australia shot a six-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the Champions Tour MasterCard Classic at Mexico City.

Marsh, 60, had five birdies on the front nine and two birdies and a bogey on the back to move to eight-under 136, one ahead of Hugh Baiocchi of South Africa, who birdied the 18th to finish with a 66.

“I stayed out of trouble,” Marsh said. “With this golf course, if you stray it’s not a bogey, it’s a double or triple bogey.”

The Bosque Real Country Club course is 8,100 feet above sea level.