Singh takes 3 shot lead into last round

Vijay Singh has had chances to win the Tour Championship all three times it's come to East Lake, but never one as good as this.

Singh blew away Tiger Woods and the rest of his challengers Saturday, holing an 80-foot eagle putt on No. 15 and closing strong for a 5-under 65 to take a three-stroke lead into the final round.

The position is familiar to Singh, just not the margin.

He led by one stroke in 1998, losing in a playoff to Hal Sutton.

He was tied with Woods after three rounds in 2000, and both were passed by Phil Mickelson.

This might be the week he closes the deal.

"I hope so," said Singh, who was at 9-under 201. "This is the first time I'm going in with a three-shot lead. It's a lot better than one."

Charles Howell III kept in the hunt with a birdie on the 17th hole and finished with a 69, making him the only player to break par all three rounds at East Lake. He will be paired with Singh in the final round Sunday.

Howell is making his debut in the season-ending tournament for the top 30 players on the money list, but his position is familiar, too.

While he never has played in the final group on a Sunday, he was three behind going into the last day at the Michelob Championship, where he claimed his only PGA Tour victory.

"I have to play well to catch him," Howell said. "As has been proven on this golf course, birdies go a long way. It should be exciting. If Vijay plays great, then he'll win."

Woods' magical ride around East Lake - which included a birdie from an adjacent fairway and a left-handed shot from the leaves to save par - came to a crashing halt with bogeys on two of his last three holes.

He wound up with a 67 to finish five strokes behind, and will be paired with Mickelson in the final round. Lefty also had a 67 and had to fight just as hard for it.

David Toms also was at 206 after a 70 that featured a rare ruling on the par-3 18th green. His ball stopped in a pitch mark, and Toms had to move it about 2 feet to the left to keep it from rolling down the hill.

That was a fitting conclusion to a bizarre day.

It started with Singh, who was leading Woods by one shot when he hit a 5-iron about 80 feet beyond the hole on the par-5 15th.

His ball was next to where the pin had been located on Friday. The pin was where his ball had been on Friday and he three-putted that one.

"I knew the line," Singh said with a laugh. "I was glad to see it go in. It kind of made up for yesterday."

Equally impressive was how he finished, even though they were mere pars.

Singh missed the 16th green on the short side and hit what he called his best chip of the week, to 4 feet for a par. He found the bunker on 17 and blasted out to 6 feet for another par save, then got up-and-down from the bunker on No. 18 to protect his lead.

"I've played the bunkers very well this week," Singh said. "It's good to see that it's all coming together."

Woods almost came unglued around the turn.

His tee shot was so far left on the par-5 ninth hole that he decided to punch out to the adjacent first fairway. His caddie, Steve Williams, had to step off the 151 yards to the green, and it turned out to be a perfect number.

Woods hit a 9-iron over the trees, landing 18 inches from the cup for a birdie.

His drive on the 10th hole was even worse, landing in a pile of leaves swept up against the chain-link fence. Woods inverted his wedge and hit left-handed to the fairway, then hit another wedge - this time, the way the club was designed - to 2 feet to save his par.

He ran out of steam at the end, however, missing the fairway on the tough 16th, and flying his 2-iron over the 18th green, leaving an impossible chip down the slope.

"I fought all day, really gutted it out," Woods said. "To finish a round like that is pitiful."

There wasn't much routine about Mickelson's day, either, which featured par putts of 40 feet on No. 8 and 30 feet on No. 16.

"To score 3 under par given as few fairways as I hit (five) and as few greens as I hit (seven) ... it's amazing," Mickelson said. "I'm thankful to be only that far behind."

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