This is hardly an encouraging bit of news for the rest of the PGA Tour: David Duval doesn't play his best, yet he's lurking near the top once again.

Stewart Cink and Mike Weir shared the lead after today's third round of the BellSouth Classic, with Duval just one shot off the pace and honing in on another victory.

"You're not always going to play your best," said Duval, whose 13-under 203 left him tied with second-round leader Rory Sabbatini and John Huston. "When you stop thinking you have to rely on playing great to put up good scores, you take a real step forward."

Duval, who hoped to use this tournament as a relaxing warm-up for the Masters, will have to change his focus now that another victory is in sight. He already has won three times this year and has 10 victories in his last 33 tournaments.

After muddling through the front nine at the TPC Sugarloaf course north of Atlanta, Duval strung together four birdies after the turn for a 4-under-par 68.

"It's kind of a bonus when you go out there and play great, hit the ball beautiful and putt beautiful," Duval said. "But I expect to go out there and miss shots, have to go up and down, make five or six putts for pars. On a day like today when I have to do that, it didn't fluster me."

Cink, a teammate of Duval for one year at nearby Georgia Tech, shot a 66 to share the top of the leaderboard with Weir, a Canadian who earned a spot on the tour through qualifying school.

"I was pleased with the way I played from start to finish," Cink said. "I was attacking all day and felt confident with my shots."

The left-handed Weir has only one top-20 finish this year and ranked 72nd on the money list entering the BellSouth Classic. Now he's in position to qualify for a spot in the Masters with a victory, shooting a 68 to match Cink with a 14-under 202.

"It would be unbelievable to play in that," Weir said. "I'm sure that's one of the things that will enter my mind tomorrow, but I've got to handle it."

South African Rory Sabbatini, who celebrated his 23rd birthday Friday by grabbing a four-shot lead, appeared poised for a rout when he birdied three of the first four holes, putting him six strokes ahead of his closest competitor.

Then the rookie fell apart. He was forced to take a couple of penalty strokes when he drove into the woods at No. 9, then plopped into the water at 12.

Sabbatini holed a 45-foot shot from a greenside bunker at 17 for birdie and survived the roller-coaster round with a 1-over 73, putting him just one shot off the lead at 203, in a tie with Duval and John Huston.

"I started off really well and then I kind of went down," said Sabbatini, the only player among the top 23 who failed to at least shoot even par on a prime day for low scores.

"I looked like the Exxon Valdez. But I had a lot of fun out there."

Phil Mickelson charged into contention with the day's best round, an 8-under 64 highlighted by an eagle at 10 when he holed a 60-foot bunker shot.

The round could have been even better -- superb iron play put him within 15 feet of birdie on the first eight holes -- but Mickelson had no complaints about being tied with Franklin Langham at 12-under 204, two shots off the lead.

"I thought heading into the weekend I needed two 64s to have a chance," Mickelson said. "I'm halfway there."

Mickelson, who began the day 10 shots behind Sabbatini, started earlier than most of the other contenders and took advantage of prime scoring conditions: a very slight breeze and greens that were still moist and inviting after heavy rain early in the week.

The wind picked up in the afternoon but the field still prospered after the brutal conditions at The Players Championship last weekend.

DIVOTS: Among the players who missed the 1-under 143 cut: Frank Nobilo (144), Fred Couples (145), Jose Maria Olazabal (145), Paul Azinger (149) and Lee Janzen (150). ... Janzen, the defending U.S. Open champion, has missed the cut in three straight events. ... Former BellSouth champions Scott McCarron (1997), Mark Calcavecchia (1995), Nolan Henke (1993), Corey Pavin (1991) and Bob Tway (1986) also failed to make it to the weekend. ... Cink and Duval aren't the only players with local ties. Langham is an Augusta native who played at the University of Georgia. ... Twenty-four players are within six shots of the lead heading into the final round.