Johnson leads Woods, two others, by two at Quail Hollow

Golf Betting Lines

05/02/2009 - Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zach Johnson carded four-under 68 Saturday to grab a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the Quail Hollow Championship.

Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion, completed 54 holes at 11-under-par 205.

World No. 1 Tiger Woods had taken the lead with a birdie on the 15th, but bogeyed the final two holes to finish two back at minus-nine. Woods posted a two-under 70 and he was joined in second place by Lucas Glover (68) and George McNeill (70).

Second-round leaders Bubba Watson and Retief Goosen both managed even-par 72s Saturday to slide into a tie for fifth place at eight-under-par 208.

Johnson did not look like he was going to be a factor early on Saturday as he bogeyed two and four to slide back to five-under.

The third round was completed despite a weather delay of nearly 75 minutes.

The five-time winner on the PGA Tour started his rally with a birdie on the sixth. Johnson followed that with an eagle on seven and a birdie on eight to get within one of the lead at the Quail Hollow Club.

Johnson parred three straight around the turn, then birdied the 12th to grab a share of the lead. He missed the fairway on the short par-four 14th, then his pitch took a big bounce on the green and rolled all the way through the green and into the water behind the putting surface.

From there, Johnson was able to save bogey, but he trailed McNeill and Woods by one at that point. Johnson played his third within two feet at the par-five 15th and kicked that in for birdie, but he still trailed by one.

Johnson drained a 14-foot birdie effort from the fringe on the par-three 17th to take the outright lead after the leaders fell backwards. He two-putted for par at the last to secure the fourth third-round lead of his PGA Tour career.

"I felt good about today, and I didn't get off to the start I necessarily wanted, but I remained patient. I think that was the key for me the whole week, and certainly today," said Johnson, who won two of the previous three times he owned at least a piece of the 54-hole lead.

"I put myself in nice places in the fairway some of the time, and as a result I could be aggressive at certain points of the course, and I took advantage of it."

Woods, the 2007 champion, grabbed a piece of the lead with an 18-foot birdie putt on one. He gave that shot back as he bogeyed the third, but recovered with birdies on five and seven to get to nine-under.

At the ninth, Woods found a fairway bunker off the tee, then pulled his second into the trees left of the green. He scrambled for a bogey, but again bounced back with a two-foot birdie putt on 10.

Woods sank a six-footer for birdie on 12 to tie for the lead, then took the lead by himself with a two-putt birdie on the par-five 15th. He three-putted for bogey on 17, then missed the green right at the last and that led to a closing bogey that left Woods two back.

"I hit the ball better today, there's no doubt," said Woods, who hit nine fairways Saturday after hitting nine in the first two rounds combined. "Obviously, the last two holes were not very good there. I had two seven-irons the last two holes and made two bogeys, that's not the way you want to finish, but I've got a shot going into tomorrow.

Glover birdied the fourth and fifth, then jumped into the lead with a 12-foot eagle putt on the seventh. He stood at minus-nine after the eagle, but remained there as he parred the next eight holes.

The 2005 FUNAI Classic winner regained a piece of the lead with a six-foot birdie putt on 16, but he gave that shot back at the last, where he found a bunker with his second before two-putting for bogey.

"I played well, very pleased. Just one mistake on the last," said Glover. "I started missing some greens, but got up-and-down and then birdied 16 and had a pretty good opportunity to make four on the last and didn't do it."

McNeill ran off three straight birdies from the fifth to grab the lead at 10- under. He cruised to seven straight pars from the eighth though.

At the 15th, McNeill sank a six-foot putt for birdie and a piece of the lead. Like Woods though, he tripped to back-to-back bogeys to close his round.

Goosen and Watson were joined in a share of fifth place at minus-eight by Brendon de Jonge (67) and Sean O'Hair (67). Davis Love III, David Toms, Jason Dufner, Y.E. Yang and Ross Fisher are tied for ninth at seven-under-par 209.