Scott Verplank maintained his one-shot lead at the top of a crowded leaderboard after the third round of The Tour Championship in Houston.

Tiger Woods carded a two-under-par 69 and was six shots behind. There were 13 players between the world number one and Verplank, who was at 13-under 200.

Verplank's lead over David Duval was halved by a bogey at the par-four 18th that completed a 68.

"I hit a bad seven iron," said Verplank, named in the Ryder Cup team for the first time in his career in September. "I was trying to force it in. I had to putt the ball through the fringe and it didn't come out the way I thought it would."

Duval fired an eight-under 63 to put himself in serious contention. That was not the best round of the day, however, as Jim Furyk broke the event and Champions Club course record with a nine-under 62.

"It was a combination of everything today," Duval said. "It was just good golf. The golf course is immaculate and there's virtually no wind out there. If you're hitting the ball well, it's there for you to score low."

Duval is one stroke ahead of a group of six on 202 which includes Ernie Els, Bob Estes and Kenny Perry, all of whom shot 65s.

"I teed off in the very first group on Thursday morning and my goal was to go from the first group on Thursday to the last group on Sunday and I almost made it," Estes said.

"I played great today but I'm not passing anyone on the leaderboard. Everybody's playing great."

Germany's Bernard Langer (69), Mike Weir (68) and Spain's Sergio Garcia (66) are also two shots off the pace.

Furyk's fantastic round featured excellent iron play and has him tied at 203 with David Toms, who fired a 64.

"I'm obviously very happy. I was frustrated by the way I played the first two days," Furyk said. "Today, the floodgates opened and I took advantage of those opportunities to make birdies."