Despite some heroics from Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship in Miami.
Watson - three shots clear.
Tied for the lead with England's Justin Rose after the second round, Watson shot a five-under 67 at Doral's TPC Blue Monster course to finish on 17 under par and take a very handy three-shot lead over Rose, who shot a 69, and fellow American Keegan Bradley, who went round in 66, heading into Sunday's final round.
Earlier in the day, new World No 1 Rory McIlroy was threatening to steal the show after being forced to play second fiddle for most of the week. McIlroy played his first 12 holes in an unbelievable nine under par, including seven birdies and an eagle, and seemed on to be on course for a truly special round, but bogeys at 14 and 16 ended his amazing run.
The Northern Irishman finished a full eight shots off the lead and has probably left himself with too much to do on Sunday - much like a number of big names in Miami this week. A 65 is still a great round, but after the kind of start that had brought the course record (a 61) into the frame, McIlroy couldn't help but be disappointed by his efforts.
McIlroy told Sky Sports: "You should not be disappointed with a 65, but I feel it could have been a little better.
"I got off to a great start and was just trying to keep it going, but got a pretty bad lie in the bunker on the 14th and in the rough at 16.
"Yesterday I was ranked last in putting, but I holed them today and I will need to do it again tomorrow.
"I need to get off to another fast start and maybe keep it going a bit better. I will have to shoot in the low sixties."
Swede Peter Hanson is alone in fourth on 12 under after a 69, a full five shots off the pace, while Americans Matt Kuchar and Zach Johnson are tied for fifth on 11 under, one shot ahead of Johnson Wagner (65) in seventh.
McIlroy shares eighth place on nine under with a number of notables - Tiger Woods (68), Webb Simpson (66), Luke Donald (69), Charl Schwartzel (70) and Martin Kaymer (70).
Woods, like McIlroy, was on fire early in his round, picking up four birdies in his first six holes. His last 12 holes, however, were a mixed bag, as he mixed three birdies with three bogeys and failed to make any further inroads.
I had it rolling and unfortunately made mistakes on eight and 12. Other than that it was a pretty good day," said Woods.
"I thought I needed low sixties to have a chance going into tomorrow."
Despite all the action further down the leaderboard, the day belonged to Watson, who started with an eagle and a birdie on his opening two holes. After three-putting the fourth he birdied three of the next four and at that moment led Rose by as many as five shots.
Things soon changed when Rose responded with four consecutive birdies from the eighth and Watson three-putted the ninth, leaving the duo level again, but Watson managed two more birdies at the 12th and 14th, while
Rose suffered bogeys at the 13th and 18th. Watson bogeyed the 16th himself, but still finished the day three shots clear.
"I was nervous just like anybody would be, but I just tried to keep my head down and somehow grinded out a pretty good score," said Watson.
"I'm just looking forward to the challenge."
Rose hasn't given up hope, but knows Watson is in pole postion.
"Three back, it's a lot to Bubba on this golf course," he said. "But at least there's not a lot of guys ahead of you. There's only one guy at 17 under, and the rest of the pack is right there, so it doesn't take much."
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