Woods blows past Duval to take lead

Tiger Woods knocked down the flags and got a couple of nice knocks out of the trees. When his crazy ride in the US PGA Tour Championship ended today, he was right where everyone expected him to be - in the lead.

Tiger Woods knocked down the flags and got a couple of nice knocks out of the trees. When his crazy ride in the US PGA Tour Championship ended today, he was right where everyone expected him to be - in the lead.

Woods birdied five of his first eight holes to put David Duval out of the picture, then hung on for a 4-under 66 that left him tied with Vijay Singh after the third round.

"I moved up in the standings, and that's the whole idea," said Woods, who joined Singh at 10-under 200 after three rounds at East Lake Golf Club.

A victory Sunday would be his 10th of the year. Only Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead have won so many times in one season.

Singh is playing his best golf since winning the Masters - the only major that Woods failed to win this year. He missed only one green and never came close to making a bogey in his round of 5-under 65.

Phil Mickelson also had a bogey-free 65 and was another stroke back at 201.

The only other person who could keep the final round from becoming a three-man race is Ernie Els, who was four shots back after a bogey on the 18th gave him a 68.

Duval?

Healthy and inspired by playing in the final group with Woods, he floundered on the back nine and wound up with a 74, dropping him seven shots out of the lead.

"I didn't get many breaks today," Duval said. "You could definitely say that. I got an awful lot of breaks for a long time a few years ago, but this year a lot of breaks haven't gone my way."

He was paired with Woods for the sixth time in their careers, and Woods has outplayed him on the last five occasions.

Next up for Woods is Singh, and they also have some baggage. Two weeks ago in the Presidents Cup, Singh's caddie had "Tiger Who?" stitched into the back of his cap for their singles match, which Woods won, 2 and 1.

Singh joked that he would fire caddie Paul Tesori if he did the same thing Sunday.

"My goal is to go out and win tomorrow," Singh said. "If I hit the ball like I am and make some putts, nobody is going to beat me."

Then again, Singh has reason to be so optimistic. Singh hasn't made a bogey over his last 22 holes and has fond memories of East Lake, having lost in a playoff to Hal Sutton two years ago in the Tour Championship.

But history favors Woods when it comes to the final round. He has won 19 consecutive PGA Tour events when having at least a share of the 54-hole lead. The only time he lost in that situation was against Ed Fiori in the Quad City Classic, his third tournament as a pro.

"I enjoy playing in that position," Woods said. "I enjoy having the lead because that means you can afford to make a mistake."

There might not be much room for that.

Mickelson seems to be getting more confidence with his putting each round, and hole two long putts at the end for par that kept in the thick of the race.

Woods had the lead with a beautiful flop shot out of the dense rough on the par-5 15th, the ball stopping 2 feet behind the hole. Woods made seven birdies, and four of them were inside 2 feet.

"I just needed to get the ball in play," Woods said.

That would have done a world of good for Duval. He laid down a challenge Friday afternoon, saying he wanted to "show him I can play, too."

But it was Woods who came out firing. He not only birdied four of his first six holes, but three of them were inside 18 inches.

Duval went from a one-stroke lead to chasing Woods by the time they got to the fourth tee, and it didn't get any better. He hit short of the green, and Woods continued to apply the heat with an approach that spun back and stopped 6 inches from the cup.

What followed was symbolic of the round - Duval tending the flag as Woods tapped in his birdie putt. He was supposed to be a challenger, but looked more like a caddie.

They matched birdies on the par-3 sixth - Duval from 20 feet, Woods from 3 inches after nearly making a hole-in-one - but that was the last one for Duval. Two strokes off the lead going to the back nine, his game collapsed amid bad shots and bad breaks.

As was the case last week at Disney, however, Woods isn't the only player to beat, even in a limited field such as the top 30 money-winners on the PGA Tour.

"If Tiger plays better than me, there's nothing I can do about it," Singh said. "I can't worry about how he plays or how Phil is going to play. I'm just going to worry about how I'm playing. And right now, I'm pretty comfortable with the way I'm playing."