World No. 1 Tiger Woods fired a four-under par 66 on Saturday to leap into a share of the lead with four rivals after three rounds of the US$5.8 million Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Woods, who began the round sharing 20th, stood on six-under par 204 after 54 holes to share the lead with defending champion Vijay Singh of Fiji and fellow Americans Bart Bryant, Bubba Watson and Sean O'Hair, who fired a 63 Saturday.
"The greens were a little quicker today," Woods said. "I just putted by feel. The ball broke pretty good and I made a few putts."
Woods, 42-3 when leading or sharing the lead after 54 holes, is trying to capture his seventh consecutive tournament title, his fifth in a row in US PGA Tour events, and his 64th career crown to match the late Ben Hogan for third on the all-time win list.
Sam Snead leads the all-time PGA win list with 82 titles with Jack Nicklaus second on 73.
As Woods departed the locker room at Bay Hill, he was greeted by golf legend and tournament namesake Palmer, who asked the 13-time major champion to come through with one of his best efforts.
"He told me I need to get off my butt and play a good round today and here I am back in contention," Woods said with a grin.
Woods opened with a birdie and birdied three of the first four holes. He fell back with a bogey at the eighth but recovered the stroke with a birdie at the par-5 12th.
Another bogey at the par-3 14th was answered by birdies on 15 and 16 and Woods finished off the round with a pair of pars.
The five-way deadlock for the lead after 54 holes matched a PGA record which had happened six times before, most recently at last year's Deutsche Bank event in Boston where Woods shared seconds, his lone non-win in his past nine starts.
Watson knows he will have a tough test among some of golf's hottest players but took confidence from how he handled his nerves on the difficult final holes.
"I didn't throw upon myself," Watson said. "I had to make some key shots I was nervous over. Every afternoon the greens get tougher and the winds come up. It's really tough. I wanted to stay in it. It was tough but I held it together.
"I'm looking at Sean O'Hair. He won last week. And Tiger is going to be on top of his game. But if I do what it takes I'm going to have a shot. It's going to be a shootout," Watson said.
Watney fired two birdies, two bogeys, two eagles and a quadruple-bogey eight at the 16th, the watery hole that also frustrated contenders Cliff Kresge, Ken Duke and Singh.
"I was definitely disappointed," Watney said. "I played very well all day. I hit one bad shot. It was definitely disappointing to do that but at the end of the day I'm two off the lead. I can be aggressive."
Singh would become the all-time US PGA Tour win leader among non-US players with a triumph. He led by two strokes when the round began but went five-over par on the front nine before fighting back on the inward nine.
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