LAS VEGAS (Nevada), Oct 14: Scott McCarron’s nine-under-par 63 gave him a new 72-hole tournament record of 261 (26-under) Saturday and a three-shot lead going into the fifth and final round of the $4.5 million Las Vegas Classic.

Fellow American Tom Lehman was alone in second place after a 67. South African Rory Sabbatini (63), Craig Parry of Australia (70) and American Bob Estes (68) finished on 266, five shots off the pace, at the TPC at Summerlin.

McCarron, the winner of the BellSouth Classic earlier this year, has had his best season on tour earning $1,396,177 in 22 events. His previous best was $852,459 when he finished 25th on the money list in 1997.

His fourth-round 63 contained nine birdies and nine pars and equalled the 36-year-old Californian’s lowest round of the year at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

The 72-hole tournament record that McCarron broke was set back in 1991 when Bruce Lietzke, Craig Stadler, DA Weibring and eventual winner Andrew Magee were tied for the lead.

Leading fourth round scores:

261 — Scott McCarron 68, 65, 65, 63.

264 — Tom Lehman 63, 62, 72, 67.

266 — Rory Sabbatini (South Africa) 64, 67, 72, 63; Craig Parry (Australia) 64, 66, 66, 70; Bob Estes 65, 66, 67, 68.

269 — Matt Gogel 69, 67, 68, 65; Cameron Beckman 67, 67, 69, 66; Lee Janzen 67, 67, 68, 67.

270 — Scott Verplank 67, 67, 71, 65; Chris Riley 69, 65, 68, 68; John Daly 67, 62, 72, 69; Chris DiMarco 68, 61, 72, 69.

271 — David Frost (South Africa) 69, 67, 69, 66; Davis Love III 69, 65, 68, 69; Fred Couples 63, 64, 72, 72.

272 — Kenny Perry 71, 69, 67, 65; Brian Gay 67, 69, 70, 66; Skip Kendall 66, 70, 69, 67; Fulton Allem (South Africa) 68, 69, 66, 69; Bob May 69, 66, 65, 72; Andrew Magee 67, 67, 66, 72.

Other international players:

273 — Robert Allenby (Australia) 66, 65, 71, 71.

274 — Grant Waite (New Zealand) 70, 68, 69, 67; Greg Chalmers (Australia) 67, 69, 71, 67.—Reuters