Garcia takes advantage as Woods slips

Sergio Garcia overtook a struggling Tiger Woods to take the lead after the third round of the Byron Nelson Championship in Texas.

Sergio Garcia overtook a struggling Tiger Woods to take the lead after the third round of the Byron Nelson Championship in Texas.

Garcia took advantage of Saturday's benign conditions, hitting every green to compile a five-under-par 65. The Spaniard was at 199, 11 under par, after 54 holes - two strokes clear of Jerry Kelly, who had a 67.

Woods - the second-round leader - endured another poor day with his driver, battling to a 70 that left him tied for third with Deane Pappas - who had a 66 - three shots off the pace. It was the second successive week that Woods had been the halfway leader, but had fallen off the pace in the third round. Last week at the Wachovia Championship, he fought back to finish one shot off the play-off places.

Garcia, 24, has not won for more than two years on the PGA Tour and spent much of last year revamping his swing and appears to be reaping the results. His round included six birdies and his only bogey came on the fourth hole, where he took three putts from 31 feet.

"I gave myself a lot of chances but the putter wasn't quite there," Garcia said after moving within sight of his fourth PGA Tour win.

Luke Donald, of Britain, shot a 64, the best round of the day, to move into a tie for fifth alongside Vijay Singh, of Fiji, Briny Baird, Duffy Waldorf, Mark O'Meara and Dudley Hart.

In Shanghai yesterday, Miguel Angel Jimenez, of Spain, accelerated past the Briton Simon Dyson to win the BMW Asian Open. Jimenez shot a five-under-par 67 to finish on 14 under, three shots ahead of the 26-year-old Yorkshireman who had held a six-shot lead going into the final round.

Four birdies in the opening 10 holes allowed the Spanish Ryder Cup player to overtake Dyson, who finished with a 76 after rounds of 66, 69 and 66 had put him in a strong position with one round to play. An eagle at the par-five 13th and a birdie at the last consolidated Jimenez's advantage to make bogeys at the fourth and 17th irrelevant.

In Nashville, Karen Stupples, of Britain, made headway with a third-round 68, but it was the Mexican youngster Lorena Ochoa who was in the lead after the third round of the Franklin American Mortgage Championship. The 22-year-old Ocho had a 67 to go 12 under and lead by one from the South Korean Mi Hyun Kim, who shot a course-record 64, and the American Pat Hurst.