CROMWELL, Conn. – Fred Funk needed a late rally on a sticky, steamy Saturday to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Buick Championship.

With 20 players within four strokes of the lead, the 48-year-old Ryder Cup rookie will have to hold off a gang of players Sunday to pick up his first win in six years.

“It was a pretty good struggle out there today,” Funk said. “What I think is going to happen tomorrow is by the time I tee off, somebody is already going to be in double figures. You’ve just got to ignore that and go play.”

The second-round co-leader, Funk shot a 1-under 69 and is 9 under for the tournament. He was just ahead of Tom Byrum and first-round leader Corey Pavin. Joey Sindelar and Hunter Mahan were two strokes back and nine others, including Skip Kendall and Hank Kuehne are at 6-under after three rounds.

Shade was hard to come by at the TPC at River Highlands and, in the muggy conditions, games began to wilt, including Funk’s. He and rookie Zach Johnson began the day at 8 under, but after starting out with two straight birdies, Funk lost the lead at the turn when he bogeyed three of the last four holes on the front.

Johnson dropped quickly with a bogey and double bogey in the first four holes and finished with a 73.

Byrum made his move early with four birdies through 11. With Funk struggling, Byrum grabbed a one-stroke lead with a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 10 and followed up with his fourth birdie of the day to improve to 9-under. His troubles started, however, just as Funk was picking up his pace.

Byrum, whose only tour win was the 1989 Kemper Open, bogeyed two of the last five holes, including No. 17, the signature water hole and finished with 67.

Park takes lead at Wachovia Classic

KUTZTOWN, Pa. -Grace Park closed with an eagle and two birdies for a 7-under-par 65 and a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the Wachovia LPGA Classic on Saturday.

Park’s 17-under 199 is a 56-hole record of the event, two strokes better than Michelle Ellis’ 201 in 2002.

Second-round leader Jill McGill is one stroke behind after a 2-under 70, and Soo-Yun Kang (68) is another shot back at 201. Laura Diaz (67) is three strokes off the pace, and Nancy Scranton (67) and Lorena Ochoa (69) are at 204. McGill, who entered the round with a three-stroke lead, had two bogeys and a birdie on the front nine and three birdies on the back, briefly trading the lead with Kang. But neither player was able to seize control.

Park, who fell off the pace with a bogey at No. 13, rebounded with a birdie at the 14th and then made eagle at the par-5 16th, hitting a 3-wood from the rough about 210 yards away to 10 feet.

Levet, Jimenez share lead in BMW Open

NORD EICHENRIED, Germany -Thomas Levet shot a 9-under-par 63 Saturday and shared the third-round lead with Miguel Angel Jimenez at the BMW International Open, where a half-dozen players are vying for European Ryder Cup berths.

Jimenez of Spain had a 67 and was at 15-under 201 with Levet, a Frenchman who missed the course record by a stroke. Two strokes behind were South Africa’s Retief Goosen (68) and Austria’s Markus Brier (67).

Five contenders for the team’s four automatic berths remain on the leaderboard. Others are looking to impress European captain Bernhard Langer for his two at-large choices for the showdown with the Americans at Michigan’s Oakland Hills on Sept. 17-19.

Levet, who had an eagle-3 on the 556-yard ninth hole in a bogey-free round, was trying to match the course record last set by France’s Raphael Jacquelin in 2003.

Ireland’s Paul McGinley and Englishmen Ian Poulter, David Howell and Paul Casey – all within seven strokes of the lead – have the inside track on Ryder Cup spots. But Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson was tied for fifth and three strokes back, threatening to displace one of them.

“I’ve been nervous all week,” McGinley said. “I’ve tasted the Ryder Cup and I want more of it.”

The Irishman, part of the 2002 European team, shot a 67 to leave himself four strokes off the lead at 205 with Australia’s Peter Fowler, England’s David Lynn and Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie.

“It’s amazing how well they are playing, isn’t it?” said Montgomerie, angling for a captain’s pick. “It shows there is some quality on the team.”

Montgomerie, the mainstay of five Ryder Cup winning teams, is out of contention for an automatic spots. In his last two events, he was 70th at the PGA Championship and 58th at the NEC Invitational.

“If I had performed all year I wouldn’t be in this position,” said Montgomerie, who shot his second 67 in three days. “I will just have to go out Sunday and play like I’ve been playing all week.”

The four open spots will be determined by those who finish seventh through 10th on the European money list. Casey is seventh, followed by Howell, Poulter and McGinley.

Sweden’s Joakim Haeggman and Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell have theoretical chances of gaining automatic berths, but both are eight strokes or more back. Langer’s two captain’s picks will be announced after Sunday’s final round. Among the hopefuls, England’s Luke Donald (68) and Germany’s Alex Cejka (69) were at 207.

AP-ES-08-28-04 1438EDT