Woods fires 71 for one-shot lead at Buick Open

Tiger Woods' bid to run away from the field in the Buick Open failed on Saturday, but the world's number one player still managed to take a one-shot lead into the final round.

Woods shot a one-under-par 71 in the third round to end the day at 15-under, one stroke ahead of Mexico's Esteban Toledo, who shot a five-under 67.

Playing in his first tournament since the British Open, Woods had begun the third round four shots clear of the field.

Fred Funk, also with a 67, jumped into a tie for third place with Bob Tway, who shot a 68 to leave both players on 12-under.

"I didn't quite feel as comfortable over the shots today," Woods said of the difference between Saturday and his second round 63.

"For a couple of shots I felt alright, but for the most part I didn't feel comfortable."

The very first hole was a precursor of the day for Woods, who hit his approach out of bounds to the left and made a double-bogey seven.

"I just had to hit a big, high slice, had to start the ball pretty far left," Woods said.

"I had 260 (yards) to the front and I didn't slice it. I cut it. I absolutely killed it. So I carried about 257 in the air into the wind.

"If I would have miss-hit it, I would have been fine."

After making birdie at the second hole, Woods eventually returned to even par on his round with another birdie at seventh.

A bogey on the ninth left him one-over for the front nine.

FIVE BIRDIES

Meanwhile, Toledo, playing a couple of groups in front of Woods, birdied five holes on his front nine, then added two more at the 10th and 13th holes.

Suddenly his lead over Woods was three shots.

Although Toledo said he did not look at the leaderboards, just as his lead got to three strokes, he began to struggle.

He missed a birdie putt at the 14th, then bogeyed the 15th to drop into a tie with Woods.

At the 16th, Toledo had a three-putt par before making bogey at the 17th.

He saved a par at the 18th after hitting his approach shot into the rough beside a greenside bunker when he pitched to within an inch of the hole.

On the back nine, Woods birdied number's 12, 13 and 16 to build a two-shot lead over Toledo.

A bogey on the 18th left him the one-stroke edge.

"I just had to grind it out, get the ball in play somehow, get the ball in the fairway; from there make a decision whether I would be aggressive or conservative," Woods said.

"When you are not feeling comfortable, you just try and get the ball in play off the tee, doesn't have to be long, just get it in play and dump it on the green somewhere.

"I felt like I was really putting well, but I never really hit it close enough to give myself legitimate chances consistently.

"But it was good enough to shoot under par."

Toledo, a 39-year-old former boxer whose best finish on the PGA Tour is second at the 2000 B.C. Open, has struggled this year, having earned only $356,225 to rank 118th on the money list.

DIFFERENT START

He had quite a different start to his round than Woods, with a birdie on number one that seemed to set the tone for the day.

"All day it was fun," he said.

"I made a 10-footer for birdie that kind of got me going, and I made another one from like 50, 60 feet that kind of turned my game around. And the whole day I made a lot of putts."

Having played with Woods a couple of years ago at the Byron Nelson Classic, Toledo said he knew what to expect on Sunday with distractions from scrambling galleries.

"I think it is going to be exciting for the people," Toledo said.

"I am going to play the same game that I have been playing the first three days. I am going to hopefully make a lot of putts...because when he takes the lead, he doesn't leave it behind. He takes it with him.

"Hopefully I win. I have looked forward to winning for years and years and years.

"It has been my dream and if I can put my head together tomorrow and forget about what he does, it should be fine."