Tiger struggles to hold onto lead

Tiger Woods was everywhere he didn't want to be Saturday, except the only place that mattered -- in the lead at the Bay Hill Invitational.

But just barely.

He was under the trees and next to a cart path, in a ditch, in a bunker and in the thick, gnarly rough. Woods somehow escaped with a 2-over-par 74 on a sunny, steamy day that felt like summer, and wound up with a one-stroke lead over Len Mattiace.

``It could have been a lot worse,'' Woods said. ``That I was able to hang in there and still maintain the lead, I'm very pleased with that.''

Woods is 21-2 on the PGA Tour when he has at least a share of the 54-hole lead. He is going after his third straight victory at Bay Hill, and both times he had the lead going into the final round.

Only this time, the challenge could come from anyone.

By the time John Daly finished making his brief charge, Sergio Garcia decided not to wade into the water on No. 16 and Mattiace completed another flawless round, the Bay Hill Invitational was shaping up to be a free-for-all.

There were 14 players within three shots of the lead, and 20 within five strokes.

Woods was at 10-under 206, one stroke better than Mattiace, the only player Saturday without a bogey. He has played the last two rounds at 10 under.

Scott McCarron, tied for the lead until two late bogeys, had a 72 and was at 208, along with volatile Pat Perez, John Huston and two Campbells -- Michael and Chad.

Right behind at 209 is some real star power.

Daly, tied for the lead after a birdie on No. 13, kept the damage to a minimum and finished with a 71. Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh each had a 69, Garcia a 70 and Ernie Els finished strong for a 72, which included a par save after going into the water on No. 16 and a birdie on the 18th.

Making the final round even more intriguing is the rock-hard, cotton-mouth conditions at Bay Hill, where no one posted a score lower than 68 on Saturday.

``Someone is going to have to go low,'' McCarron said. ``And low out here could be a 67. It's going to be very difficult.''

Mattiace, who won his first PGA Tour event last month at the Nissan Open, acknowledged the number of players still in the hunt, but wasn't sure whether that meant a shootout or a test of survival.

``If you survive, you'll probably be doing well,'' Mattiace said.

That's what Woods did on Saturday.

He played the final seven holes with one birdie and the rest pars, but the rest of the afternoon was a real adventure. That image of Woods posing over well-struck shots turned into one of him holding his arm out to the left to warn the gallery of an incoming ball.

``I hit a lot of poor shots,'' Woods said. ``But I hung in there and scraped out a round that could have been pretty ugly.''

The problems started early.

Woods missed a 5-foot par putt on the opening hole, then was flabbergasted when his tee shot on the par-3 second came up 10 yards short of the green.

``You've got to be kidding me,'' Woods said.

He saved his par, but nothing came easy, not even his birdie on the par-5 fourth hole. His approach was headed out of bounds when it hit a tree and kicked back in, near a ditch. Woods hit a nice pitch to a 3 feet, tapped in for birdie and had a two-stroke margin over McCarron, who birdied his third in a row.

But the margin kept shrinking, allowing everyone to join the chase.

He three-putted from 30 feet on No. 7. He hit under the trees left of the ninth fairway, and his punch shot under the limbs just caught the thick rough, slowing its roll to the green. Another bogey. He went left again on No. 10 and failed to get up-and-down from a bunker for four bogey of the round, and suddenly was tied for the lead.

``I had a good warm-up session on the range,'' Woods said. ``I started to hit good shots, but started to gradually not feel comfortable over the shots. And it gradually got worse. That's golf. It's very fickle.''

Up ahead, Daly was looking like the ``Wild Thing'' again, at least on his card. He began birdie-bogey-birdie-birdie-bogey, and was briefly tied for the lead. He bogeyed the par-3 14th, and missed a short par putt on the 18th to fall three strokes behind.

Daly is still in the picture, along with just about everyone else.

``There's 15 other guys with a chance to win,'' Mattiace said. ``Anyone on this leaderboard can shoot a good round. It's who's going to have the best daytomorrow.''

Divots

Curtis Strange needs only one round under par at Bay Hill to break the tournament record of most sub-par rounds in a career. He and Fuzzy Zoeller are tied at 40. The Ryder Cup captain had a 77 on Saturday. ... It was so hot and sunny when the leaders teed off that Tiger Woods' caddie asked his girlfriend to get an umbrella it case it was needed to shield the rays. Steve Williams never used it. ... Brett Quigley had a 69, but was disqualified for taking anincorrect drop.

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