Vijay Singh stands on the verge of finally winning the Mercedes-Benz Championship, PGA Tour's season opener, after a number of near misses.
The 43-year-old was steady rather than spectacular in carding a three-under-par 70 on another extremely windy day in the third round.
That lifted him to an 11-under 208 total, three shots clear of Adam Scott (69) and Trevor Immelman (72) at Maui's Kapalua Plantation course.
Singh has posted top-10 finishes in his past seven starts in the tournament and he knows just about every nuance of the course built on the side of a mountain.
He was not at the very peak of his game in the tough conditions but avoided making a bogey after the seventh hole, picking up five birdies in all as he putted well with his new mid-length belly putter.
"It was a little disappointing," he said.
"The scoring was good but the ball-striking wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. It was wishy-washy, but putting is a great equaliser. I made a lot of three, four, five-footers.
If Singh was not quite firing on all cylinders, Immelman's long game was superb, but a couple of early three putts seemed to sap his confidence on the greens.
"I felt like I hit the ball solidly, so that was pleasing," said the Rookie of the Year.
"Most of my shots I hit on the wrong side of the pin and I couldn't have too much of an aggressive putt at it.
"It was frustrating on the greens. Obviously the two three putts early didn't help me. But all in all, I hung in there. I'll need a special day to catch Vijay."
Scott charged into contention with five birdies in his final seven holes, a welcome turnaround after a frustrating front nine.
"It was frustrating early because it felt like all my good shots came up a yard short or ended up in a bunker just off the green, but not too much damage was done and then I just got hot coming in," said the world number four.
The Australian will play alongside Singh on day four, a rematch of the final round at the Tour Championship in November when Scott prevailed — but this time he gives his rival a significant headstart.
"It would be a great way to start the year (with another win) but I'm going to need a really low score," he added.
Fellow Australian Stuart Appleby's quest to become the fourth player in US Tour history to win the same event four successive years all-but ended when he shot 72 to slip nine shots behind Singh.
PA