Furyk retains two shot lead

Jim Furyk birdied the final three holes and five of the last seven for a second straight 66 and a two-shot lead over Tiger Woods after Saturday's third round of the World Golf Championships - NEC Invitational.

"I'm real happy with the day," said Furyk, who is seeking his second victory of the season, the seventh of his career and a whopping $1 million payday.

Furyk capped his fiery finish with an eight-foot birdie putt at the par-four home hole to post a 54-hole total of 13-under-par 197. Woods, the two-time defending champion at Firestone Country Club, finished at 11-under after missing a 10-footer for birdie at the 18th. He also shot four-under 66.

"I played pretty good today," said Woods, who will be playing in the final group on a Sunday for the first time since he captured his third straight Memorial title in June. "I'm very pleased with the way I was able to make a few putts and I got myself right there in contention with a chance to win tomorrow."

Five shots off the pace in third place was Paul Azinger, who birdied five of the last six holes for a 65, and Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke. Clarke salvaged a 68 after chipping in for par at the 15th and making birdies at 16 and 17.

Scotland's Colin Montgomerie and South African Ernie Els each shot 66s for a share of seven-under 203 with Phil Mickelson, who paid the price, and then some, for an errant drive at the par-five 16th.

Mickelson, who began the day tied with Woods two strokes behind Furyk, sprayed his tee shot way left at 16 and spent some time searching for his ball. He and his caddie found a ball that matched his brand and number, and after a discussion with rules officials Mickelson decided it was his and chipped back to the fairway.

Mickelson missed the green with his approach and lipped out a putt for an apparent bogey. He parred the last two holes but was assessed a one-stroke penalty because he did not inform Furyk, his playing partner, when he marked and lifted his ball to identify it back at 16, a violation of Rule 12-2.

The rule states that a player attempting to identify his ball must give his partner a chance to observe the lifting and replacement.

The infraction left Mickelson with a double-bogey on the hole and a third- round score of even-par 70.

"I didn't score very well today," said Mickelson, whose round consisted of the double, a pair of front-nine birdies and 15 pars. "I'm going to have a tough time. I'm going to have to fix it tonight or tomorrow morning and try to turn it around for tomorrow."

Mickelson may not have time to fix anything in the morning, as the threat of thunderstorms Sunday afternoon prompted tournament officials to push up the first final-round tee times to 7:45 a.m. (et), with pairings going off on the first and 10th tees.

Furyk and Woods will start on the first tee Sunday at 9:06 a.m. (et), and the round is expected to wrap up around 1 p.m.

Woods joined Furyk atop the leaderboard early in his round Saturday with a 12- foot birdie at the opening hole followed by a chip to tap-in range for birdie at the par-five second.

Woods soon fell one shot back with a bogey at the fourth, but Furyk, playing in the group behind Woods, suffered back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 4 and 5 to fall one off the lead.

Furyk found more potential trouble when he drove into the rough at the par- four sixth. Although he drew a terrible lie and was forced to lay up with his second shot, Furyk stopped the bleeding with a wedge shot to four feet to save par.

"It was nice to make a good save there and get my feet underneath me," he said.

Furyk sank a seven-foot putt at the eighth for his first birdie of the day, lifting him into a tie for the lead at eight-under with Woods and Mickelson, who earlier birdied the second.

Woods sank a five-footer for birdie and the lead at nine-under just before the turn. Mickelson pulled alongside him when he reached the ninth, rolling in a 35-foot birdie putt.

A driver off the 10th tee put Woods in the first cut of rough left of the fairway. He then hit a knock-down pitching wedge eight feet past the hole and made the putt to regain the outright lead at 10-under par.

A 15-foot birdie at the 12th and another from 10 feet at the 14th gave Furyk another share of the lead with Woods. Woods then went to 11-under at 16, where he roped a four-iron from 256 yards out into the back left bunker. His blast out of the trap grabbed the rough and stopped on the fringe, but he managed to sink the 12-footer anyway for birdie.

But Furyk was just getting started.

A drive into the right rough at 16 called for a seven-iron lay-up, but Furyk made the most of his third shot by knocking it to six feet to set up a birdie.

At 17, Furyk landed his approach on the front fringe, 30 feet from the hole. His birdie attempt traveled through the fringe, up over a swale and into the cup to give him the lead at 12-under.

Furyk closed with a birdie to make it three straight, leaving him two shots in front of Woods and a full five strokes clear of anyone else heading into the final day.

It's not a major, but with 38 top players in the field -- not to mention the World No. 1 at his heels -- it would be the biggest victory of Furyk's career.

"It's a bigger event," said Furyk, who kicked off the 2001 season with a triumph at the Mercedes Championships, an event that boasts a field of winners from the previous season. "I think that here, we have a little bit of a smaller field, but it's a very elite field and a very strong field, so it would be a nice tournament to win."

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