Tiger Woods was a happy man after today's third round of the Motorola Western Open, yet his enjoyment was tempered by a near tragedy.

Woods birdied three holes on the back nine and made an impressive, 20-foot, uphill putt to save par on the 18th today for a 4-under 68 and a commanding 4-stroke lead. The round was overshadowed when caddie Garland Dempsey collapsed on the course and had to be rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.

"That was unfortunate, very unfortunate," Woods said. "Hopefully he's OK. He's one of the best guys out there. He's such a great guy."

Dempsey, John Maginnes's caddie, was in critical but stable condition after he collapsed and his heart stopped as he walked down the 15th fairway. Maginnes and Matt Moore, a spotter for ABC, performed CPR until paramedics arrived. Paramedics had to use a defibrillator to get his pulse back.

It's not clear why Dempsey, 51, collapsed.

Maginnes finished his round, looking dazed and shaken. He gave the crowd a weak smile as he walked off the 18th green and then went to the hospital.

"My concern is for Garland right now,'' Maginnes said in a statement. "I had a hard time concentrating on the last few holes, but golf is not as important right now.''

Maginnes is expected to play Sunday, though he and everyone else might be competing for second place. When Woods has a lead, he's practically unstoppable. Of the seven PGA Tour events he's led going into the final round, he's won six of them, including two this year: the Buick Invitational in February and the Memorial Tournament in June.

The one time he didn't win when leading after three rounds came at the 1996 Quad City Classic, just a few weeks after he turned professional.

"Tomorrow I'll just play the game the way I have been,'' said Woods, who is at 14-under 202 after three rounds. "Just keep hitting a lot of fairways and if I'm there, if I have a good number and a good situation, then I'll attack. If not, I'll just play safe and try to make a par."

Stuart Appleby, who started the day sharing the lead with Woods, bogeyed four holes and finished with an even-par 72 to put him four strokes back at 206. Mike Weir, who shot a 5-under 67, and first-round leader Mike Brisky also were at 206.

"Tiger's pulling away a little bit,'' Brisky said. "But hopefully I can get something going tomorrow and who knows.''

Not if Woods keeps playing this way. His only rough spot of the day came on the par-3 No. 2, when his 3-foot putt for par hit the right edge of the cup and rolled around, but didn't drop in.

He tapped in for a bogey, but got the stroke back on the next hole, a par-4, when he put his second shot within two feet of the hole for an easy birdie. And he just cruised from there. He had birdies on Nos. 9 and 10, and came close to an eagle on the par-5 15th. He put a 35-foot putt within eight inches of the cup, but it rolled just to the right and he tapped in for a birdie.

He went 14-under on the par-4 16th, sinking a 20-foot, uphill putt that he was just trying to put close to the hole.

"I knew the scores weren't going to be that low because the conditions were so difficult,'' Woods said. "If I could keep making a lot of pars and the occasional birdie here and there, that I'd be all right.''

Woods's lead was almost cut in half on the par-4 18th when his third shot, out of a greenside bunker, rolled 20 feet past the pin while Appleby had what looked like an easy birdie putt.

But Woods made the putt, and he already had his putter up and the familiar arm pump going as the ball dropped and the crowd roared. Appleby still had a chance to cut a stroke off Woods's lead, but he just missed his putt and tapped in for par.

"It looked like I could lose two strokes and that's a huge momentum builder for Stuey going into tomorrow,'' Woods said. "It was one of the best strokes I made all day. It felt pretty good because it was under one of the most crucial times of the rounds."

Woods's score actually could have been lower, but he missed short birdie putts on Nos. 4 and 8. And on the par-5 11th, he was on the green in two only to three-putt.

AP