Sergio Garcia birdied the final two holes in Harrison, New York yesterday and took a two-stroke lead over American Scott Hoch after three rounds at the rain-plagued $3.5m PGA Buick Classic.
Playing in the final pairing with Hoch, Garcia shook off a pair of bogeys on the back nine on his way to a five-under-par 66 and a 54-hole total of 12-under par 201.
The 21-year-old Spaniard seeks his second US PGA crown, having captured his first title on US soil last month at the Colonial. He played the first nine holes in five under par, including an eagle at the short par-4 seventh.
Garcia, who slumped to a seven-over-par 77 in the final round of the U.S. Open seven days ago, shot 31 on the front side of the Westchester Country Club to move to 12-under for the tournament.
After three birdies, Garcia's eagle came at the par-four, 326-yard seventh. The Spaniard drove just short of the green and then made a chip shot from the fringe.
Rain halted play Thursday and postponed the third round until yesterday. The final round will be played today.
Tiger Woods, who was only three shots back after making the turn, played the back nine in one-over on his way to a 68. He shares 12th at 209, eight strokes behind Garcia.
The world number one started the day with a typical weekend charge, making four birdies on the front nine and moving to within three of the lead. But two bogeys and only one birdie on the back nine pushed him down the leaderboard.
Hoch carded his second consecutive 68 to stand second at 203. J.P. Hayes fired a 67 to stand third at 204 while Stewart Cink (69), Russ Cochran (67) and Sweden's Gabriel Hjertstedt (68) are another shot back in a tie for fourth. Hayes' lone PGA title in 173 PGA Tour starts came here in 1998, when he defeated Jim Furyk in a play-off after the tournament was cut to 54 holes because of rain.
Third round scores (US unless stated): 201 - S Garcia (Spa) 68 67 66; 203 - S Hoch 67 68 68; 204 - JP Hayes 68-69-67; 206 - S Cink 65-72-69, R Cochran 71 68 67, G Hjertstedt (Swe) 68 70 68; 207 - B Andrade 70-6968, B Faxon 69 72 66, V Singh (Fij) 67 70 70, C Parry (Aus) 71 69 67, J Williamson 70 72 -65; 209 - P Azinger 71 70 68, K Sutherland 70 70 69, M Wiebe 68 68 73, T Woods 75 66 68; 210 - F Couples 72 68 70, S Elkington (Aus) 70 68 72, H Frazar 71 67 72, J Furyk 71 72 67, P-U Johansson (Swe) 69 69 72, G Hnatiuk (Can) 71 68 71, I Leggatt (Can) 70 69 71, J Gore 73 69 68; 211 - R Allenby (Aus) 69 68 74, S Appleby (Aus), 73 68 70, N Faldo (GB) 73-68-70, F Nobilo (Nzl) 73 69 69; 212 - S Allan (Aus) 69 71 72; 213 - D Frost (Rsa) 70 71 72; 215 - E Fryatt (GB) 70 71 74; 219 - M Campbell (Nzl) 72 72 75.
