California: Jim Furyk inched closer to his first PGA Tour title in three years when he moved three strokes clear in Saturday's third round of the Tampa Bay Championship.
The former US Open champion birdied three of the last nine holes for a four-under-par 67 and an 11-under total of 202 at the Innisbrook Resort.
South Korean KJ Choi fired a matching 67 to share second place with South African Retief Goosen, Swede Carl Pettersson and long-hitting American Bubba Watson, who all carded 70s.
"I'm just happy with the round," American Furyk told reporters after covering the back nine in three-under 32.
"I felt like I played real solid on the front nine, missed a couple good birdie putts."
"But I got on a little bit of a run on the back nine and it turned out to be a good score."
The 2003 US Open champion has not triumphed on the U.S. circuit since the 2007 Canadian Open, a barren run of 58 events.
"I've had quite a few opportunities to win," Furyk said. "Sometimes I've hit poor shots or I've played poorly, shot a bad round and got myself out of it."
"When you're playing poorly or you don't play well, it's easy to lose your confidence and it takes a lot longer to build it up."
"But I've also had a lot of events ... where I really felt good about my game and walked off the course knowing that I gave it my all, and really played my rear end off, but just got beat."
"I want to go out and win a golf tournament," added the 13-times PGA Tour winner.
"That's what we play golf for. That's what I practise hard for, and I haven't been able to do that in over two-and-a-half years."
Ireland's Padraig Harrington, who held a one-stroke lead overnight, slipped back with a 72 to share sixth place at seven under with Briton Luke Donald (67) and American Jeff Maggert (70).
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 10:18