Forget his third round of the U.S. Senior Open? Sure, Ed Dougherty says.

Forget his working-class roots? No way.

Even after struggling on his way to the clubhouse today, Dougherty is 18 holes from winning. He bogeyed two of his last three holes, but his 3-over 75 was enough to hold a one-stroke lead after three rounds.

That's what he planned to remind himself.

"There isn't a golfer in America who hits a practice shot and doesn't think somewhere along the line, 'Well, this is for the U.S. Open,' " Dougherty said. "With that in mind, I look at is as 'Enjoy it.' "

Along with that attitude, Dougherty takes a 54-hole score of 4-under 212 into Sunday's final round. He was one stroke better than Bruce Summerhays, defending champion Hale Irwin and Dave Eichelberger.

Gil Morgan was at 214, Joe Inman at 215 and three were tied at even-par 216.

The spectators at Des Moines Golf and Country Club have cheered all week for Dougherty, a one-time winner on the PGA Tour who's still searching for his first victory as a senior.

They like the underdog, and that's what Dougherty will be when he tees off with Irwin in the final pairing.

"I'm from the Philadelphia area,'' Dougherty said. "I saw `Rocky' about six times when it was first out. I thought he stole my story.''

Dougherty remembers his first job in golf, working a bag room in his hometown of Linwood, Pa., for $1.50 an hour. Now he has won $1.9 million on the PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour.

"I came out on tour with $2,000 and I haven't spent that yet, so I'm doing all right," Dougherty said.

Summerhays and Irwin built momentum for Sunday, each charging with late birdies to shoot 70s. Summerhays birdied No. 17 while Irwin birdied the 16th and 17th and barely missed a 12-foot birdie putt at the 18th.

"The position I'm in, it's not too bad,'' Irwin said. "I have the capability of coming from behind to win, and I've done it before.''

Dougherty reached 7-under after two rounds by blitzing the back nine through 36 holes. His 30 on the back nine Thursday tied a Senior Open record for nine holes and he followed with a 33 on Friday.

After nine holes today, Dougherty wouldn't let himself imagine he was about to salvage his afternoon.

"I'm appreciative of what I've done on that back nine, but also very leery,'' he said. "I think that's the harder of the two nines.''

He made the turn at 1-over 37, hindered by a double-bogey at the fifth. He landed a good drive but hooked a 7-iron 30 yards beyond the green.

"That was sheer death," Dougherty said.

It seemed the back nine would protect Dougherty again when he made pars from the 10th to the 15th, but he bogeyed the 16th and 17th. At the 17th, he couldn't avoid seeing the scoreboard, and it made him shudder.

"There was a couple of people under red numbers,'' he said. "I couldn't tell how many of them but I knew there was a couple 3-under.''

Dougherty is trying to become the first player to win the Senior Open wire-to-wire since Simon Hobday broke away from a first-round tie in 1994 to win at Pinehurst No. 2.

"I'm still No. 1, thank you,'' Dougherty said. "It wasn't the best of days but if somebody told me Monday, 'Hey, Ed, you've got a one-shot lead going into Sunday. How do you think you'd handle it?'

"I would have been thrilled, and I'm still thrilled,'' he said.

Dougherty opened with a birdie on the par-4 first, reaching 8-under. But then came the double-bogey on the fifth, a long par-4 that requires a blind second shot over a cluster of ash trees.

Irwin, starting at 1-under, birdied the fourth and 11th to reach 3-under. But his approach on the par-4 13th was long, his pitch wasn't close enough and he two-putted for a bogey. He also bogeyed No. 15 before his strong finish.

Eichelberger made birdies on the 11th and 12th to reach 4-under and nullify a double bogey at the par-3 third. He had a mercurial finish, closing with bogeys at the 14th and 15th before a birdie at No. 17.

It was a different course today. Instead of sweltering heat and humidity, it played under cooler temperatures in the 70s. Wind that had been from the south all week shifted to the northeast.

"It's not quite as strong, it's just dead opposite," said Jim Colbert, whose second straight 68 pulled him even for the tournament at 216. "It makes it quite a challenge because you're just not as comfortable with club selection."

Frank Conner had the tournament's low round, a 67 that included six birdies, three bogeys and an eagle on the par-5, 493-yard 11th. His 4-wood approach found the back fringe but he used a sand wedge to flop the ball 25 feet into the hole.

The cooler weather didn't deter the fans in Iowa who have swarmed the Des Moines Golf and Country Club all week.

Today's crowd was 47,200. While no official attendance records are kept, USGA officials have said all week the galleries that have continued to grow each day were believed to be the largest for a Senior Open.

Spectators stood eight to 10 deep around almost every green and lined virtually every fairway.

DIVOTS: Christy O'Connor, who won last week's State Farm Senior Classic, shot 71 for a three-round total of 221, tied for 31st. ... The runs by Conner and Colbert offset their poor first rounds, when Conner had a 79 and Colbert an 80. ... Rocky Thompson shot an 11-over 83, a round that included an 8 on the par-5 11th. ... For the second straight day, the fifth hole was the toughest, yielding three birdies, 25 pars, 30 bogeys and three double-bogeys.

AP