Even when he was struggling to make pars, Greg Kraft found comfort every time he looked at a scoreboard and saw his name at the top in the Doral-Ryder Open. Now if he can just keep it there for 18 more holes.

In a conservative and sometimes shaky round today on the Blue Monster, Kraft put together a 2-under-par 70 to take a two-stroke lead into the final round, the first time he has been in that position in nearly three years.

Among those chasing him are a two-time U.S. Open winner (Ernie Els), a winless millionaire (Glen Day) and a blast from Doral's storied past -- Andy Bean, a three-time winner at Doral who hasn't won on tour in 14 years and can't even remember the last time he was in contention.

"A lot of guys made a push, but they were from back in the pack," said Kraft, who was at 11-under 205. "That took the pressure off me because I was still leading."

He can expect a lot more heat on Sunday.

Els is trying to win his second straight 72-hole event on tour and wondered if he would even have a chance at Doral. If not for a putter that rescued him from one poor iron shot after another, he might be staring at more than just two strokes between him and the lead.

"My dad could have played better from the fairway," said Els, whose 8-foot birdie on the treacherous 18th gave him a round of 70 for 207. "I don't like playing that way. I felt it was a big scramble all day long. But I'm still in there with a chance."

Day, who won nearly $1.3 million last year but still hasn't cashed a first-place check, is getting progressively better with each round. His bogey-free 67 put him at 207 and earned him a date with Kraft in the final group on Sunday.

Bean was at 208 with Scott Dunlap, a 35-year-old Nike Tour grad who took double bogey from the water on No. 18. Justin Leonard, who has come from five strokes back in three of his four victories, had a 68 and was among seven players at 209.

Greg Norman bogeyed the 18th for a 68 that left him at 212, seven strokes back. Norman was seven back when he won the first of his three Doral titles in 1990, closing with a 62.

Bean is 46 and would age much faster if every round was like Saturday. After making the turn in 32 to get within one of the lead, he took a double bogey on No. 13 when his approach rolled up against a tree, holed out a 30-yard bunker shot for birdie on the next hole and then made a thrilling par on the final hole.

From a bunker down the first fairway, his 3-iron from 205 yards out barely cleared some palm trees and stopped 25 feet away on the fringe.

"Shoot, if it would have been last year or a couple of years ago ... to even try that shot, they might as well have committed me," he said. "I amazed myself there on 18."

That Bean is even around the lead is somewhat amazing. An 11-time winner on tour, his last victory was the Byron Nelson Classic in 1986, and the last time he was fully exempt was 1992. A tall, lumbering man from Georgia, Bean has been more inclined to spend time with his three daughters than work tirelessly on his game.

His renewed dedication, though, has nothing to do with the lucrative senior tour that awaits in four years.

"My headlights don't shine that far, man," he said. "I just can't be looking ahead for what might be four years down the road. Shoot, we've got to eat now."

The question for Kraft is whether the dinner bell will finally ring Sunday.

The last time he took a lead into the final round was the 1996 Deposit Guaranty Classic, when he lost a four-stroke lead by closing with a 71. This will be the fifth time he has led going into the final round -- only one of those produced a victory, the 1993 Deposit Guaranty, although that wasn't an official PGA event at the time.

The fact that names like Els, Bean and Leonard are on the board doesn't concern him as much as the numbers they're posting, and to make sure his is better.

"I know somebody is going to have a good round, so I'm going to have to have one myself," he said.

DIVOTS: Glen Day was well traveled when he got to Doral. He lost in the first round of Match Play and flew home to Arkansas, then returned to San Diego on Monday to play a corporate outing for a friend. He caught a redeye to Miami on Tuesday morning. ... Norman will not play the tour again until The Players Championship, but he does have the member-guest at The Medalist in Hobe Sound, Fla., next week with "Today" show host Matt Lowery. ...The top 50 in the world rankings after this week will be invited to the Masters if they haven't already qualified. Craig Parry, at No. 50, missed the cut at Doral but will keep his ranking unless Patrik Sjoland finishes fourth at Doral. After a 69 Saturday, Sjoland was seven off the lead.