Fred Gibson has the inside track to his first Senior PGA Tour title, but he has plenty of competition.

Gibson birdied the 18th hole today to take a one-stroke lead after three rounds at the Las Vegas Senior Classic.

He shot a 6-under-par 66 and is 9-under for the tournament. Gibson holds a one-stroke lead over Argentina's Vicente Fernandez, but a number of other players remain in striking distance at the Tournament Players Club at Summerlin.

Isao Aoki, Frank Conner and Dave Eichelberger are tied for third at 7-under, while second-round leader Lee Trevino is in a three-way tie for sixth with Tom Wargo and John Jacobs.

"Anyone can win," said Fernandez, who fired a 5-under 67 on the par-72 layout. "Those players within five strokes can win, (within) six strokes can win."

Gibson, who carded his best round of the year, is gunning for his first Senior PGA Tour title after regaining his full tour exemption by finishing eighth in the 1998 tour qualifying tournament.

He feels he gained some momentum with the birdie on No. 18 after hitting into the water on the par-3 17th hole before settling for a bogey.

"When you're playing good, you know, you can accept the bad things a lot easier," Gibson said. "When you're playing bad or things are happening bad and they keep happening bad, it like it keeps snowballing."

Gibson knew things would go well after starting the round with four consecutive birdies.

Both Gibson and Fernandez said favorable weather conditions in a tournament known for high winds helped the groups teeing off later in the day.

"I think the late groups got real lucky because I think the winds kind of laid down a little bit in the afternoon because when we got here at around 10:30 it was blowing pretty good," Gibson said.

John Mahaffey, who started the third round at 1-over par, shot himself into contention today with consecutive birdies on Nos. 15, 16 and 17. He ended the day with a 6-under-par 66 and is tied for ninth with defending tournament champion Hale Irwin.

AP