Golf:A rejuvenated Ernie Els closed in on his second successive PGA Tour win after taking a one-shot lead into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Country Club in Florida.
The South African, winner of the WGC-CA Championship in Doral two week’s ago, shot a three under 69 to lead on 10 under 206.
Ben Curtis (70), who had been bogey-free for 31 holes, finally succumbed on the 16th and 17th to surrender the lead but remains in second.
American Chris Couch (69) was third, three shots behind Els, after enjoying some luck on the final hole when his ball ricocheted off three rocks on the edge of greenside hazard before jumping on to the green and allowing him to make par.
Italian Edoardo Molinari (70) was joint fourth with American Kevin Na (72), four shots off the lead.
World number three Phil Mickelson had a disappointing round with the putter - five bogeys and two birdies leaving him seven shots adrift of the lead.
Els, who won at Bay Hill 12 years ago, oozed confidence after his third round in the sixties and was delighted with his form.
"I felt comfortable from tee to green. I felt I struck the ball very nicely and my driving was a lot better too, so I'm pleased with that," he said.
“I felt the course was tougher today, especially the back nine. The greens finally got firmer. It was tough getting to those hole positions."
Els has a good record going into the final round of a tournament with the lead, he has won 11 of 16 PGA Tour events when holding or sharing the third round lead, including the last seven occasions.
The 40-year-old said he would have to be on his guard though on the freshly redesigned course.
"There's so many doglegs here, there are so many trouble holes with hazards and all kinds of stuff.
"Length is not always the way to go here. I might just play it a bit more safe (and) basically play major championship-type of golf."
Couch conceded he had been fortunate to have avoided the water after watching his ball bounce around the jagged rocks.
"I saw it very well. I kept thinking 'please, please bounce on the green, baby, bounce on the green'.
"That was a great break at the right time there. I was in a good position and I didn't need to take worse than a par on that hole, especially making double or worse if it goes in the water.
"It was a great break."
Collated third round scores and totals from the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Country Club, Florida, US
(US unless stated, par 72):
206Ernie Els (Rsa) 68 69 69
207Ben Curtis 70 67 70
209Chris Couch 70 70 69
210Kevin Na 68 70 72, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 70 70 70
211Retief Goosen (Rsa) 71 67 73, Jim Furyk 71 74 66, Davis Love III 66 71 74, Boo Weekley 70 73 68, Derek Lamely 71 70 70, Kevin Streelman 68 75 68
212Steve Marino 70 70 72, J.P. Hayes 70 72 70, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 73 70 69, D.J. Trahan 69 68 75
213Phil Mickelson 71 67 75, Dustin Johnson 71 70 72, George McNeill 69 71 73, Robert Allenby (Aus) 68 73 72, Bill Haas 72 71 70, K J Choi (Kor) 71 69 73, Tim Petrovic 74 68 71
214Jason Dufner 69 72 73, Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 72 71 71, Jason Day (Aus) 71 70 73, Nathan Green (Aus) 69 73 72, Sean O'Hair 70 73 71, Matthew Every 74 70 70, Brandt Snedeker 72 72 70, Briny Baird 72 72 70, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 70 74 70
215Rodney Pampling (Aus) 74 70 71, John Senden (Aus) 71 74 70, Charles Howell III 72 72 71, Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) 74 70 71, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 74 71 70, Marc Leishman (Aus) 70 73 72, Bo Van Pelt 72 70 73, Scott Verplank 75 70 70, Stephen Ames (Can) 73 71 71
216Ben Crane 69 74 73, Kris Blanks 74 69 73, Erik Compton 72 71 73, Stewart Cink 73 72 71, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 67 78 71
217Jerry Kelly 71 74 72, Pat Perez 69 74 74, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 74 71 72, Chris DiMarco 69 73 75, Heath Slocum 69 72 76, D.A. Points 73 72 72, J.B. Holmes 66 74 77, Mike Weir (Can) 67 73 77, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 71 73 73, Jonathan Byrd 71 73 73
218Nick Watney 74 71 73, Brian Davis (Eng) 74 71 73, Ryan Moore 72 72 74
219Steve Stricker 69 71 79, Hunter Mahan 71 73 75, Bryce Molder 74 70 75, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 75 70 74, Kevin Sutherland 70 73 76, Tim Clark (Rsa) 74 70 75, Rickie Fowler 73 72 74
220Sam Saunders 73 70 77
221Tim Herron 73 72 76, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 71 74 76, Joe Ogilvie 76 66 79, Skip Kendall 73 71 77
222Josh Teater 72 71 79
223Martin Laird (Sco) 74 71 78
224Paul Goydos 70 72 82
225Ricky Barnes 72 71 82, Garrett Willis 72 73 80