Four bogeys on the back nine did Richard Coughlan no favours in the third round of the Las Vegas Invitational yesterday, leaving him in joint 56th overall and just likely to make the cut.

Coughlan, who covered the first nine holes yesterday in 35, one under par, eventually shot a threeover-par 75 to stand on 213 overall, three under par for the three rounds.

Bob Tway stood alone in the lead on 202, 14 under par, after shooting a 69 to add to his 68 and 65 on the first and second days of this five-round event. He had two shots to spare on a group of four players on 204, David Ogrin, Davis Love, Jim Furyk and Scott Verplank.

Tway had used a late chip-in for birdie to move into a three-way tie for the lead after two rounds. He had shared the lead with Robert Damron and David Ogrin at 11under-par 133, one shot better than a pack of five headed by Paul Azinger and defending champion Bill Glasson.

Tway, among the last to finish, charged to the top of the leaderboard with a 65, including a birdie on his 17th hole. Damron followed his opening round 65 with a 68, and Ogrin carded a 66.

Joining them at 134 were Bob May, Lee Porter and Rick Fehr.

Second round scores: 133 - D Ogrin 67 66, R Damron 65 68, B Tway 68 65. 134 - P Azinger 66 68, B May 69 65, L Porter 69 65, R Fehr 69 65, B Glasson 69 65. 135 - C Beck 67 68, J Furyk 67 68, S Verplank 67 68, K Triplett 70 65. 136 - J Leonard 70 66, D Love III 70 66, M Calcavecchia 65 71, N Henke 69 67, W Wood 69 67 D Waldorf 66 70, S McRoy 68 68.