KMAX: Sports

LAS VEGAS (AP) Stuart Appleby is again the leader at the Las Vegas Invitational. A soft bounce on 17 and his driver got him there.

Appleby, chasing his first tour win since 1999 and currently one of the hottest players on the tour, shot a 6-under 66 for a one-shot lead heading into Sunday's final 18 holes of the 90-hole tournament.

Appleby is at 28-under 259.

Steve Flesch, who started the day in a tie for the lead with Scott Verplank, shot 68 Saturday and is at 260.

Scott McCarron has contended often in the tournament but never won it. He's three shots back after a 67. Robert Allenby (66) is fourth, four shots behind Appleby.

Appleby made nine birdies three of them in a row on the back nine to offset three bogeys. But it was his par at the 196-yard par-3 17th that kept him atop the leaderboard.

He hit his tee shot left of the green. The ball bounced down the slope but stayed short of the water by a couple of yards. Faced with an awkward stance and a tough shot, Appleby hit a lob wedge to within 3 feet and made the putt.

``I pulled it left and it popped down the slope,'' Appleby said. ``I got away with it.''

Scores in the low 60s were common through the first three rounds. Things got back to normal in the fourth round with tougher pin placements at the TPC at Summerlin course.

That didn't slow down Appleby, who consistently hit big drives that found the middle of the fairway and left him with short irons to the green.

Flesch and Appleby shared the first round lead with Craig Barlow after the trio shot 62s on Wednesday at two other course. But the Summerlin course played much tougher Saturday.

``That pin placement on 17 was almost down the slope,'' said Flesch, who hit plenty of shots within birdie range but couldn't get his putter going. He finished with four birdies and no bogeys.

``A four-birdies, no-bogey round is pretty mundane on this course,'' Flesch said. ``Tomorrow I want to convert the opportunities I had today.''

Verplank was at 26 under and within two shots of Appleby going to the par-5 16th, but took a triple-bogey 8 after hitting two shots in the water. He also bogeyed 18 and finished with a 73.

Appleby finished second here last year, a shot behind Phil Tataurangi. He came into this week with second place finishes in his last two tournaments, including last week at the American Express Championship, where he, Tim Herron and Vijay Singh were two shots back of Tiger Woods.

``I like the way I'm playing and I'd like to get it 6 or 8 under tomorrow,'' he said.

Flesch, a winner at New Orleans in April, has led or been near the top of the leaderboard all week.

``I know I haven't played my best golf yet,'' he said. ``I know I have it in me to run the table again.''

McCarron led this tournament by three shots two years ago going into the final round. His caddie accidentally broke McCarron's driver after the fourth round and McCarron went on to finish fourth. In 2000, McCarron finished fifth after starting the final round one shot back of the lead.

``You've got to be both aggressive and patient,'' McCarron said of his plan for Sunday, ``but that will be dictated by what Stuart is doing.''