Tiger Woods struggled to a two-over par 74 on Saturday but still clung to a one-stroke lead over fellow American Len Mattiace after 54 holes at the four million-dollar PGA Bay Hill Invitational.
Woods, who began the third round with a four-stroke lead, hit only 11 of 18 greens in regulation and took 31 putts to finish at 10-under par 206. That has opened the door for 14 rivals within three strokes of the lead.
"It's pretty obvious, I didn't really play well today," Woods said. "I hit a lot of poor shots. I didn't feel comfortable over a lot of my shots today.
"But I hung in there and somehow I was able to scrape out a round that could have been pretty ugly."
Woods is trying to become the first player in PGA history to win three different events three years in a row, as well as trying to end a 6 1/2-month win drought similar to the one he halted with a title here last year.
When leading after 36 holes, Woods has won 13 of 17 times. Woods has won 25 of 29 events worldwide when leading after three rounds, his last such loss coming last year at Dubai at the hands of Thomas Bjorn.
Mattiace fired a 68 in windy conditions to seize second with New Zealand's Michael Campbell and American Scott McCarron among five sharing third at 208.
"I've been seeing good things on the golf course," Mattiace said.
"Like I've been seeing more drives in the fairway and I've been seeing more iron shots on the greens. I've been seeing more putts go in the hole.
"There is some visualization that goes on beforehand and planning even before that. But I've been seeing the results."
The Florida native was winless in his first seven years on the PGA Tour but broke through a month ago, winning the Los Angeles Open and is 15th on the money list.
McCarron tooks bogeys at the 16th and 17th to drop out of a share of the lead with playing partner Woods.
Eight others are at 209, including South Africa's Ernie Els, Spain's Sergio Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal, Fiji's Vijay Singh, Argentina's Angel Cabrera and Americans John Daly, Scott Hoch and Phil Mickelson.
Woods has done well in his adopted state, winning three times in Florida. But he knows he's fortunate to be on top after a shaky round.
Woods sent his approach at the first hole into the rough and ended up missing a six-foot par putt. He was able to scramble for a birdie at number four after his three-iron was off target but missed a four-foot par attempt at number seven.
Woods' third shot at the par-four ninth hole skipped past the cup and he missed the 12-foot comebacker for par. He never recovered from a bad tee shot at number 10, blasting out of a bunker before missing a 10-foot par putt.
"I know what I'm doing wrong, it's just a matter of stopping," Woods said.
"I just need to go out there and get some reps in tonight, hopefully maybe do a little practice session in the morning or something. It's a matter of getting up there and staying committed to it and doing it properly."
Ireland’s Paul McGinley lies four shots off the pace after shooting a third round 68.
-AFP