Golf - PGA Tour:A third-round 67 gave Jim Furyk a three-shot lead at the Transitions Championship in Florida last night as Padraig Harrington's challenge stalled. Furyk moved to 11 under for the tournament while Harrington dropped back to seven under.
Furyk picked up birdies at the first, 11th, 12th and 15th holes as he added to his earlier rounds of 67 and 68. South Korea’s KJ Choi, South African Retief Goosen, American Bubba Watson and Swede Carl Pettersson were in a four-way tie for second on eight-under.
Choi also fired a 67, while the other three had to make do with rounds of 70. England’s Luke Donald was another to go round in 67 as he moved to seven-under overall, level with Jeff Maggert of the USA and Harrington.
It would have been even better for Donald, who picked up six birdies, had he not bogeyed the 18th. Justin Rose also shot a 67 to sit five-under overall.
"I'm just happy with the round," Furyk told reporters after covering the back nine in three-under 32. "I felt like I played real solid on the front nine, missed a couple good birdie putts.
"But I got on a little bit of a run on the back nine and it turned out to be a good score."
The 2003 US Open champion has not triumphed on the PGA circuit since the 2007 Canadian Open, a barren run of 58 events.
"I've had quite a few opportunities to win," Furyk said. "Sometimes I've hit poor shots or I've played poorly, shot a bad round and got myself out of it.
"When you're playing poorly or you don't play well, it's easy to lose your confidence and it takes a lot longer to build it up.”