David Howell leads into final round

England 's David Howell held off the challenges from world number Tiger Woods of the United States and Australian Nick O'Hern to lead by one stroke after the third round of the US$5 million HSBC Champions on Saturday.

Ryder Cup star Howell, the overnight co-leader, holed some courageous putts for a four-under-par 68 to keep himself atop the leaderboard in Asia 's richest tournament with a 16-under-par 200 total at Sheshan International Golf Club.

Woods put himself in prime position to pounce in tomorrow's final round after a 67 which included five birdies and one eagle while rock-steady O'Hern carded his third straight 67 with five birdies.

Thailand 's Thaworn Wiratchant kept up the Asian charge as he closed with three birdies for a 69 and fourth place on 204, four shots behind Howell. Chinese ace Zhang Lian-wei struggled on the greens on a windswept day to return a 73 and fell to tied 10th place.

The 30-year-old Howell, coming off his best year in Europe after one win and 10 top-10s, displayed the heart of a lion by draining some crucial putts that kept him in sight of the HSBC Champions title.

"It's all about winning tomorrow. It's a great opportunity for me, to try and take on the world's best player with a one-shot lead and try to win a massive tournament. It's going to be a big day, but an exciting day and I'm looking forward to the challenge," said Howell, the world's number 19.

Howell was two under through seven holes and was forced to hole a tremendous putt from 10 feet on the eighth to save bogey after hooking a drive into the hazard. He bombed in another 25-footer on nine for birdie to get back on track before further birdies on 10 and 13. While he holed some crunch putts, the amiable Englishman missed a short one at the last hole which could have given him a bigger lead.

"Mentally I'm not sure how to feel after today's round. I missed a two footer at the first and a four footer to finish. Had a few other chances out there, as well, and I holed three or four putts that you just wouldn't expect to hole one in a 100," said Howell.

"I guess I'm probably slightly frustrated, to only have a one-shot lead, to be honest. I felt I could easily have stretched that to two or three. I'm slightly frustrated, but in the morning I'll wake up and be leading the tournament by one and be excited and happy."

Woods was delighted to be in the title mix for the first HSBC Champions trophy. With a huge gallery following his every move, he turned in 35. Woods stepped up a gear on the back nine with two birdies and an eagle from 35 feet over a run of four holes but a wayward drive on 15 saw him drop a second bogey before he wrapped up his day with a closing birdie on 18.

"Considering this is the biggest golfing event they ( Asia ) have ever had, I think it would be very special to have your name associated with that. Hopefully I can get the job done tomorrow. But there's a lot of golf to be played," said Woods, a 10-time major winner.

The American was not surprised to see Howell remain atop the leaderboard. "H e's certainly worked on his game. You see how hard he works, all of the hours he puts in after a round of golf. And you're going to improve when you put in the time; he certainly has," said Woods.

Thaworn, the Asian Tour Order of Merit leader after winning three times this year, sparkled with a strong finish. A wedge to one foot on 16, a five iron to eight feet on the par three 17th and another solid birdie from six feet at the last hole saw his name move up the leaderboard.

"It was very windy and I'm really happy with my score as I do not like these conditions," said the 38-year-old Thaworn. "After being even par for most of the day I remained patient as par is good in the wind. Coming in, I hit some nice shots for those birdies.

"I'm not going to think about winning as I'm a few shots behind the leader. I'm just going to stick to my own game plan and try to keep hitting fairways like what I did today," said the Thai.

Denmark 's Thomas Bjorn, US Open champion Michael Campbell of New Zealand and England 's Nick Dougherty are joint fifth on 205, five strokes behind Howell.

Bjorn carded a 69 after missing a string of birdie opportunities while Campbell gave himself an outside title chance with two birdies over his last three holes for a matching 69. Dougherty, the co-overnight leader, stumbled to a 73 in a round that included two double bogeys.

Fijian Vijay Singh, the world number two, shot a 70 and is 10-under-par for the tournament which is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour, Australasian Tour and Sunshine ( Southern Africa ) Tour.

Leading third round scores

200 - David Howell (ENG) 65-67-68

201 - Tiger Woods ( USA ) 65-69-67, Nick O'Hern (AUS) 67-67-67

204 - Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 67-68-69

205 - Michael Campbell (NZL) 66-70-69, Thomas Björn (DEN) 67-69-69, Nick Dougherty (ENG) 64-68-73

206 - Vijay Singh (FIJ) 67-69-70

207 - Jean-Francois Remesy (FRA) 70-67-70

208 - Zhang Lian-wei (CHN) 67-68-73, Paul Casey (ENG) 67-68-73

209 - Peter Hanson (SWE) 69-70-70, Paul Lawrie (SCO) 64-75-70, Peter O'Malley (AUS) 64-72-73, Ian Poulter (ENG) 67-69-73, Robert-Jan Derksen (NLD) 65-70-74, Kenneth Ferrie (ENG) 66-69-74

210 - K J Choi (KOR) 65-71-74

211 - Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 67-73-71, Steven Bowditch (AUS) 71-69-71

212 - Raphaël Jacquelin (FRA) 74-71-67, John Bickerton (ENG) 68-72-72, Arjun Atwal (IND) 69-70-73, Graeme Mcdowell (IRE) 70-67-75

213 - Liang Wen-chong (CHN) 72-70-71, Steve Webster (ENG) 72-70-71, Wang Ter-chang (TPE) 71-70-72, Padraig Harrington (IRL) 69-72-72, Titch Moore (RSA) 69-71-73, Barry Lane (ENG) 73-70-70, Niclas Fasth (SWE) 70-74-69, Thomas Aiken (RSA) 72-72-69, Lee Westwood (ENG) 70-69-74, Colin Montgomerie (SCO) 74-71-68

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