Tiger Woods bogeyed the final two holes to hand Rory Sabbatini the lead in a tight finish to the third round of the $6.3million Wachovia Championship in Charlotte, Carolina.
After dropping a shot at the par-three 17th, Woods made a mess of the tough par-four 18th, pushing his drive into the right rough, before forcing a six-iron back to safety.
The world number one limited the damage to just one dropped shot by getting up and down from 40 yards, but his mistake left Sabbatini alone in front going into the final round.
"Eighteen, you get it in the fairway it's a pretty benign hole, but if you don't, you're going to pay the price," said Woods, who finished in near darkness as a result of a two-hour morning weather delay.
Woods said he could not see the line on his six-footer at the last but he made it all the same.
"I was kind of guessing on that one," he continued. "I knew it was left to right, but I didn't know how much."
Sabbatini was one of the few players in the final groups not to have trouble at the last, finishing with a fine 20-foot birdie to tie the Quail Hollow course record with a bogey-free eight-under-par 64 in intermittent rain.
He posted an 11-under 205 total, one shot better than Woods (68), with Vijay Singh (69) and Arron Oberholser (69) two behind.
Woods was not the only player to have trouble at the last in the wet conditions. Singh discarded his shoes and socks to play his second shot from the hazard, eventually making bogey, while Oberholser dropped two shots after finding the water with his second shot.
And Phil Mickelson also found trouble to make double bogey to fall four shots off the pace.
Sabbatini's lead should come as no surprise. He tied for third at last week's Byron Nelson Championship, and last month tied second at the Masters, where he led for part of the final round.
He made a dream start, with an eagle from 80 yards at the first hole, where his ball spun back into the hole.
"That was obviously a great way to get the ball going," said the 31-year-old South African, who attended the University of Arizona. "I managed to get the ball in play, and the rain slowing the greens up just a touch made it a little easier to be a little aggressive with the putter."
Sabbatini believes he has something to prove because he doesn't think he received sufficient credit for winning last year's Nissan Open.
"Some people said that Tiger had withdrawn because he was sick. He's here this week (and it is the) best opportunity I've had to put any of that criticism or doubt aside."
And he will not have to wonder what Woods is doing because they will play together in the final pairing.
"I know Rory is playing well right now, and I'm going to have to make some birdies," said Woods. "It's nice to be in the last group, to see what's going on."
Padraig Harrington continued his freefall after an opening 66 on Thursday was followed by a 75, and was then compounded by yesterday's disastrous 79. It leaves the Dubliner way off the pace on four over.
Darren Clarke was forced to withdraw after the first round (76) with a hamstring injury.
Collated third round scores from the US PGA Tour's Wachovia Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina (USA unless stated, par 72):
205 Rory Sabbatini (RSA) 70 71 64
206 Tiger Woods 70 68 68
207 Vijay Singh (Fij) 67 71 69, Arron Oberholser 69 69 69
208 Steve Stricker 72 70 66, Ken Duke 70 70 68
209 Phil Mickelson 70 71 68
210 Anthony Kim 72 69 69, Trevor Immelman (RSA) 68 74 68, Stewart Cink 70 71 69
211 Joey Sindelar 69 72 70, John Senden (Aus) 72 70 69, Billy Mayfair 73 71 67
212 Jerry Kelly 69 73 70, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 71 70 71, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 71 71 70, Robert Garrigus 72 73 67, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 68 73 71, Jason Bohn 67 72 73
213 Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 70 72 71, Brett Quigley 70 74 69, KJ Choi (Kor) 70 74 69, Davis Love III 74 72 67, Ted Purdy 70 69 74, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 75 69 69
214 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 70 73 71, J.B. Holmes 69 74 71, J J Henry 72 73 69, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 70 73 71, Mike Weir (Can) 73 71 70, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 72 73 69
215 Adam Scott (Aus) 73 69 73, Jeff Gove 74 69 72, Steve Flesch 70 74 71, Lucas Glover 75 72 68, Kevin Sutherland 75 69 71, Bubba Watson 71 75 69, Parker McLachlin 71 75 69, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 72 72, Stephen Marino 74 71 70, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 70 73 72, Robert Allenby (Aus) 70 76 69, Briny Baird 72 73 70
216 David Berganio Jnr. 69 76 71, J.P. Hayes 75 72 69, Boo Weekley 72 75 69, Heath Slocum 68 77 71, Stephen Ames (Can) 69 73 74
217 Charlie Wi (Kor) 74 68 75, Nick Watney 72 71 74, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 71 75 71, Nathan Green (Aus) 70 76 71, Woody Austin 71 74 72, Camilo Villegas (Col) 69 76 72, Mark Wilson 76 70 71
218 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 72 74 72, Chris DiMarco 74 71 73, Ernie Els (Rsa) 71 74 73, Michael Putnam 72 70 76, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 70 73 75, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 72 74 72, Bob Tway 72 75 71
219 Charles Warren 70 73 76, Robert Gamez 75 71 73, Brian Davis (Eng) 72 75 72, Todd Demsey 72 75 72, Ben Curtis 70 75 74, Gavin Coles (Aus) 76 71 72, Billy Andrade 73 74 72, Dean Wilson 72 75 72, Jeff Maggert 68 74 77, John Rollins 70 76 73, Cameron Beckman 75 72 72
220 Jeff Sluman 71 76 73, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 75 70 75, Lee Westwood (Eng) 72 74 74, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 66 75 79, Ryan Moore 74 72 74
221 Zach Johnson 71 75 75, Charles Howell III 78 69 74
222 Bo Van Pelt 77 70 75
223 Craig Kanada 73 73 77
224 Tripp Isenhour 75 72 77, Cliff Kresge 75 72 77
225 Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 73 74 78
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