LA QUINTA — Apparently, Steve Stricker didn't really need to know much about the Nicklaus Private Course at PGA West.

Five days after playing just nine holes of the newest Bob Hope Chrysler Classic course and driving a cart around the other nine holes, Stricker blitzed the Nicklaus course for a 10-under 62 that gave him a three-stroke lead in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

“Sometimes it's good when you don't play a practice round,” Stricker said with a smile. “You don't see all the trouble where you hit it in the practice rounds. So you just see the area where you want to hit it and hit it to it.”

Stricker hit it to the right place enough Saturday to make 10 birdies and no bogeys, pushing him to 33-under par 255, three shots ahead of Pat Perez. In keeping the scoring orgy in the tournament this week moving forward, Stricker broke the tournament's 72-hole scoring record of 29 under and broke the PGA Tour's scoring record for 72 holes against par of 31 under set by Ernie Els in the 2003 Mercedes Championship.

A day after a 61 on the Palmer Course at PGA West, Stricker's third- and fourth-round totals of 123 is also a new PGA Tour scoring record for consecutive rounds, a record that Perez had matched at 124 in the first two rounds this week.

“It's been good. I don't know what else to say,” Stricker said. “I haven't made too many mistakes and I've been trying to make as many birdies as I can.”

Three players, Bubba Watson, Robert Garrigus and Vaughn Taylor, are tied for third at 26 under, with Garrigus earning a spot in the final threesome today with Stricker and Perez. But Garrigus is holding out only faint hope of a final-day rally to catch Stricker or Perez.

“I'm going to have to shoot 58 tomorrow to finish second, I think,” Garrigus said after a 66 at Bermuda Dunes. “It was good to get that round in, and I feel good about my position going into tomorrow.”

Even Stricker had trouble accepting the low scores he was shooting this week.

“When we flew over from Hawaii this week, Joe Durant was on my flight, and I asked him what his winning score was here, and he said 36-under (in 2001),” Stricker said. “It almost seems like you can't reach that goal. We're one day away from making, maybe breaking that record, which is incredible.”

When Perez finished his round of 67 at Bermuda Dunes, he still had sole possession of the lead at 30 under but wasn't surprised that his 5-under round had failed to open a gap between him and the rest of the field.

“Not that it's easy, but these guys aren't amateurs out here,” Perez said. “So a guy like Stricker, these guys know how to play. So I'm not surprised in the least. I told you earlier, I think the score is going to be 35-under par, so that's where it is going.”

Perez birdied three of the four par-5s at Bermuda Dunes, but managed just two other birdies, those coming on the 11th and 12th holes.

It was Stricker who was stuck in neutral at the start of his round, making par on his first four holes and then missing the green to the right on the par-4 fifth hole.

But he holed the chip from an eight-foot-deep grass swale, and he never looked back after that.

“That kind of righted the ship for me and got me going in the right direction after starting off with four pars,” Stricker said. “Normally, starting off with four pars isn't a bad thing, but here you've got to keep it going.”

Stricker then birdied three of his next four holes to finish the front nine in 4-under 32. He opened the back nine with two pars, then birdied six of his next seven, including his last four holes, to open up the gap that Perez wasn't able to open at Bermuda Dunes.

Since Perez and Stricker has both shot 61 on the Palmer Course this week, there might not be an advantage to either player today. But Perez is confident of his chances.

“Obviously the pins are going to be a fraction more difficult tomorrow,” Perez said. “They will be in the tougher spots, but I love that course. That back nine is one of my favorites of all time. So if I can get through the turn, and go to the back nine, I feel pretty confident.”

Stricker said he'll try not to think about the 61 he shot Friday on the Palmer Course when play begins today as the pros take over and the amateurs from the first four days head to the other side of the ropes.

Stricker said he enjoyed his four relaxing rounds with the amateurs, but things will be a bit more serious on the course today.

“Tomorrow there probably won't be a lot of chatter among the pros,” Stricker said. “They are trying to win a golf tournament.”