Vijay Singh heads star chasing pack

Fiji's Vijay Singh gave himself a major psychological boost by holing an eight-foot par putt at the last to secure a one-shot lead after the U.S. PGA Championship third round on Saturday.

He ended the day one stroke ahead of his American playing partner Justin Leonard but, more significantly, moved four clear of U.S. Masters champion Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Briton Darren Clarke, American Chris Riley and Canada's Stephen Ames.

"That putt on the last meant a lot, being four ahead of the pack," the 41-year-old told reporters after carding a three-under-par 69 to finish on 12-under 204 at a sun-baked Whistling Straits.

"I think there's five other guys that are four back now, and they have to play one shot better (after the par at 18) to catch me now.

"Justin, I'll have to play with him tomorrow, and I'll take care of that when the time comes," added Singh, who has sealed victory the last seven times he has held at least a share of the lead going into the final round.

"It will be tense out there. I'm going to go out and try my hardest. I'm going to try to beat everybody in the field if I can. I'm in the best position right now to do that."

The tall Fijian, chasing his first major title since the 2000 U.S. Masters, has been the hottest player in the game over the last 13 months with six victories on the U.S. PGA Tour.

He ended Tiger Woods's four-year reign as the tour's leading money winner in 2003 and tops this season's U.S. money list with earnings of $5,813,566.

"I'm a lot more confident going out there now," he said. "I'm playing well enough to feel like, every time I tee it up, I can win golf tournaments.

"I'm very in control of my golf swing when I'm playing well and this week I feel really comfortable with that."

Singh added he had erred in setting his sights on the number one spot in the world rankings earlier in the year.

"Right now, I am totally focused on what I'm doing, my game, and I'm not really worried about the rankings," said the world number three.

"I'm not bothered about who is number one right now and who is not.

"My focus two months ago was the wrong thing. I was focusing so hard to get to the number one spot, I started not focusing on my game."

On Sunday, he will be focusing on a second U.S. PGA Championship, having won the 1998 title at Sahalee.

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