Golf:An incredible second shot at the 13th helped Francesco Molinari maintain his one-shot lead over Lee Westwood at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai. The Italian holed a seven iron for an eagle two at the 411-yard par-four.
He eventually completed a third round of 67 to lead the WGC event on 14 under par, retaining his slender advantage over the world number one. Westwood signed for a five-under round of his own but it was the 13th that ultimately proved pivotal to the day's events.
The Ryder Cup team-mates had matched each other almost blow for blow to reach the turn in 34 after Westwood had briefly drawn level at the top of the leaderboard following Molinari's bogey at the fourth.
The 27-year-old fell back to 11 under after dropping a stroke at the par-three 12th when his tee shot came up well short of the green but he then remarkably holed his second into the next, a bitter blow for Westwood who kept his cool to sink a birdie.
It was to prove crucial as Molinari could muster only one more birdie at the last that was equalled by Westwood's excellent 15-foot putt, the Englishman having previously reduced the deficit to one on the 15th.
Luke Donald lies third on 10 under par following a gritty 68 that saw him scrambling to make a string of pars.
But one birdie at the sixth was followed by three more coming home and Donald has now dropped just one shot over 54 holes, a testament to the Englishman's continued resilience over the 6,643-yard layout.
Ross Fisher remains in touch on eight under par courtesy of a 69, the Englishman recovering from a dropped shot at the first to collect five birdies and just one more bogey.
He was joined by Ernie Els and Richie Ramsay, who both signed for 71s. Els bounced back well from a bogey at the fifth and a double-bogey five at the sixth with five birdies, including one at the 13th fashioned by a fine approach that ended a few feet from the hole, as the South African dropped just one more shot at the 15th.
Ramsay, meanwhile, sank a short birdie putt at the last to also finish one-under for the day. Jaco Van Zyl lies seventh on seven-under while an amazing albatross two at the par-five 14th, when he holed his second shot with a wood, saw Padraig Harrington briefly lead the chase of the top two.
However, disappointing bogeys at the 16th and 18th checked the Dubliner and he finished six under par alongside Noh Seung-yul after carding a third consecutive 70.
Paul Casey climbed to five-under following a 67 but Tiger Woods saw his hopes of lifting the title tomorrow ended as a 73 left the former world number one three under par.
A birdie at the first suggested he was ready to make a move but that was unfortunately followed by two consecutive bogeys. Two birdies and two bogeys followed to leave Woods in a group of six players that features Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter and Retief Goosen, all 11 shots off the lead.
Defending champion Phil Mickelson fared even worse, a 76 leaving the American languishing on level par for the tournament.