On the fifth anniversary of his epic first major triumph, Tiger Woods made another record-setting charge at the Masters.
The defending champion fired nine birdies and only one bogey over 26 holes on Saturday at Augusta National Golf Club to match reigning US Open champion Retief Goosen of South Africa for the lead after three rounds of the 66th Masters.
Both champions stood at 11-under par 205 after 54 holes, two strokes ahead of Fiji's Vijay Singh and four better than South Africa's Ernie Els, Spain's Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson of the United States.
Facing an uphill struggle is Ireland’s Padraig Harrington who lies 6 off the pace at five under, having dropped two shots at the 18th.
Taking full advantage of a rain-soaked course, Woods finished off the final eight holes of a three-under 69 in the morning, then fired a sizzling six-under 66 in the afternoon to set a Masters mark with nine consecutive sub-par rounds.
"I really played well all day, and at 26 holes it was a long one," Woods said. "Conditions as soft as they were, you had to be very creative. It was a tough grind but I hung in there and played really well."
Woods is attempting to become only the third man to win back-to-back Masters titles, matching the feat of boyhood idol Jack Nicklaus and England's Nick Faldo.
Charging from six strokes off the pace at dawn to the final group at sunset served notice that Woods would be in full stalking mode Sunday as he bids for a seventh major title and his third Masters green jacket in six years.
"I have been there before. I look forward to it," Woods said of the pressure pairing. "I feel very comfortable there. I just go out and be committed to my shots. If you get into the final group, you know you have done your job really well."
The 26-year-old American completed the "Tiger Slam" here a year ago, taking the Masters crown to hold all four major golf titles at once. But his 1997 triumph here was equally stunning.
Woods became the first black golfer to take a major crown, doing so on a course where blacks were once denied the chance to play. At age 21, Woods set a 72-hole course record of 18-under par 270 to win by a record 12 strokes.
Still, there are a host of would-be Tiger tamers in pursuit.
"It's always harder when he is out there four strokes ahead of you. But it's not impossible," Garcia said. "There's no doubt he's a great player. That's why he has won so many majors in such a short time. But I strongly think the gap is closing. We're trying to make it even closer."
Woods awoke at 4:30 in the morning Saturday, waited through a 90-minute rain delay and resumed play at three-under par with eight holes to finish from the rain-halted second round.
He saved pars from beyond 10 feet on 11, 14 and 17 and made birdies at the par-5 13th and 15th holes.
"I made some great par putts to keep my round going," Woods said. "Those are things you have to do to keep the momentum of a round going and I seem to have been successful at it so far."
Woods began the third round with birdies at the second and third, a bogey at the par-3 fourth and sank a 12-foot birdie at the seventh. He then opened the back nine with an eight-foot birdie at the 10th and a testy six-foot downhill birdie at 11.
"That putt was really quick," Woods said. "I probably hit it a touch too hard and it caught the lip. I wasn't trying to hit it that hard. Thank God it broke."
Woods birdies the par-5 15th for the 21st time in 29 tries and birdied the 18th to complete the second-best round here during a week of rain and mud.
"You have to hit some funky shots because you've got mud on one side of the ball," Woods said. "I played some different shots because of the wet conditions. I had to be sure not to catch any of these nukers that go over the back of the green."
AFP