Fiji's Vijay Singh, who is in the midst of his longest drought as a PGA Tour member, extended his lead at the four million-dollar Houston Open on Saturday to three shots over Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland with a six-under-par 66.
Singh, who is winless in the US since his Masters victory two years ago, began the day two shots better than Clarke and built a six-stroke advantage before settling for a 54-hole total of 18-under 198, matching the tournament record set by Curtis Strange in 1980.
Ranked eighth in the world, Singh has gone 50 PGA Tour starts without a win, seven more than his previous dry spell between 1995 and 1997.
Even after letting a six-shot lead dwindle to three, Singh is confident about his chances.
"Right now, it's a little tighter," he said. "But do what I did today tomorrow and I'm in contention, which is really good.
"It makes me think tonight about what I'm going to do tomorrow. That's what I wanted."
Singh began the third round with three pars, then birdied six of the next eight holes to build a six-shot cushion. He played the last five holes in one-over but secured his 11th 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour.
"I hit the ball really good," said Singh, a nine-time winner. "I thought I left a few out there, but I guess we all do. And I'm really looking forward to tomorrow."
Clarke also left a few on the TPC at the Woodlands but is in contention for his second career PGA Tour title. A standout in Europe, he birdied three of the last six holes to make up ground on his playing partner.
"I think with the way Vijay's playing, if he keeps playing like that, he's going to be very, very difficult to catch," said Clarke, who defeated Tiger Woods in the final of the 2000 Match Play Championship.
"But at least, as you say, I'm only three back and not six or seven or eight."
Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain is the only other player within six shots of Singh, sitting five back after carding a brilliant 64 - the low round of the day. The two-time Masters champion had nine birdies between the fifth and 18th holes.
"Obviously, I'm very pleased with today's round," said Olazabal, who needed just 23 putts. "I think pretty much everything went my way today. I had a couple of good breaks, and obviously I made a lot of putts, and that helps."
Shigeki Maruyama of Japan and American Brandt Jobe are tied for fourth at 205, a stroke better than a group of seven players led by Australian Greg Norman.
But everyone's looking up at Singh, who did his damage during the middle holes, playing Nos. four to 13 in seven-under. He parred the first three and last four after a bogey at 14.
"Played pretty much the same as yesterday," he said. "The birdies came around the same time as yesterday, too, except for the last three holes."
Clarke also started slowly, parring the first five holes. But he made a 20-foot birdie putt at the sixth and another to close the front nine and give him some momentum.
The portly Irishman matched Singh's birdie at the 13th and made up three shots over the last five holes to halve his deficit, two-putting at the par-five 15th before sinking a 25-footer at the 18th.
"I just had to keep on doing what I was doing," he said of closing in on Singh. "I was still giving myself opportunities at the same time as he was hitting it close.
"It looked like he was going to shoot 61 or 60 or something silly."
AFP