Purdy uses quick start to take Michelin lead

Ted Purdy figured he might toss and turn a bit.

“Sleeping on a lead? I’ll let you know tomorrow,” Purdy said Saturday after taking a two-shot lead in the wind-blown Michelin Championship in Las Vegas.

“I know Tiger (Woods) doesn’t feel comfortable unless he’s in the lead. Those of us who have not led all that many times, I think there’s going to be some anxiety,” he added.

Purdy, who came from behind to win his only PGA Tour title, the Byron Nelson earlier this year, birdied his first four holes of the third round before swirling wind kicked up. He went on to shoot a 65.

His second consecutive 7-under round moved him to 18-under 197 through 54 holes.

Steve Lowery shot a 64 to move into a second-place tie with Charles Howell III (67) and Harrison Frazar (68).

The gusting wind took its toll on some of the other players, with the relatively easy TPC at Summerlin course suddenly turning into a challenge.

Briny Baird, ahead by one shot after the first round and up by two heading into the third day, struggled mightily. His round included a quadruple-bogey 8 on No. 12 as he ballooned to a 78 that left him tied for 43rd at 9 under.

With no wind the first two days of the tournament, Baird has rounds of 62 and 66.

Tour rookie Ryan Moore, the former UNLV star, also had a disastrous hole.

The 2004 NCAA player of the year and U.S. amateur champion and 2005 college player of the year, Moore took a 9 on the par-5 16th on his way to a 74 that dropped him into a tie for 22nd at 11 under.

Kevin Stadler and Wes Short Jr. were three shots off Purdy’s lead, Stadler with a 70 and Short with a 66. Three-time Las Vegas champion Jim Furyk shot a 69 and was in a group four shots off the pace.

Purdy stuck his approach shots within 10 feet of the pin on each of his first four holes and rolled in a birdie putt each time.

The wind began blowing hard when he and his group were on the eighth hole, and from there on, the gusts were affecting the ball as it rolled on the slick, fast greens.

He still made four more short birdie putts, but missed a 3-footer on No. 14 for his only bogey.

Champions Tour

Brad Bryant shot his second straight 6-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead over six players in the Administaff Small Business Classic in Spring, Texas.

The 50-year-old Bryant, the PGA Tour’s 1995 Walt Disney World champion, birdied seven of the first 13 holes on the Augusta Pines course and had his lone bogey on No. 15. He has four top-10 finishes in 20 events on the Champions Tour, including a third-place tie in August in Washington, but he had not topped a leaderboard until Saturday.

Jay Haas, coming off his first victory on the 50-and-over tour last week in North Carolina, shot a 69 to join Hale Irwin (68), Gil Morgan (67), Dave Barr (67), Mark McNulty (68) and Morris Hatalsky (69) at 10 under.

Hatalsky eagled the par-5 second hole and was tied for the lead with a hole to play, but he dropped back with a double-bogey 7 on the par-5 18th.

Irwin, coming off victories in his last two tour starts, bogeyed No. 17 after hitting into a bunker but rebounded with a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 18. The 60-year-old Irwin, a four-time winner this year, also eagled the par-5 second hole.