Zach Johnson rides eagle past stumbling Tiger Woods to lead Chevron World Challenge

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Tiger Woods wound up with a 73 Saturday, but is only one shot back.

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Doug Ferguson

Associated Press

Series: PGA Tour

Tiger Woods lost his three-stroke margin with every shot that looked good until the wind decided otherwise. He lost his lead in the Chevron World Challenge because of something that was really out of his control.

Zach Johnson was 163 yards away in the 18th fairway on Saturday, one shot behind and hopeful of getting his 7-iron onto the top shelf to make par as easy as possible. Imagine his surprise when it landed near the hole and hopped back into the cup for an eagle that put him atop the leaderboard.

"I would have been happy with a 4, let alone a 3," Johnson said. "A 2 is a steal."

That eagle gave him a 4-under 68, allowing him to make up a four-shot deficit on Woods and take a one-shot lead into the final round of the final official PGA Tour event this year in America.

Woods had three bogeys on the par 5s and didn't feel as though he did much wrong. On two of them, he hit wedges that looked good until the cool, gusting wind shifted directions and sent the ball much farther than he imagined. On the other par 5, his fairway metal hit a gust and dropped into a hazard.

The result was a 1-over 73. The prognosis wasn't nearly as bad.

"Even though I made three bogeys on par 5s, I had two three-putts, but I played well," Woods said. "I hit a lot of good shots that ended up in bad spots because I had bad gusts. So be it. That's the way it goes.

"I'm right there with a chance going into tomorrow."

Johnson was at 8-under 208 and will be in the final group with Woods. K.J. Choi overcame a double bogey on the par-5 second hole for a 72 and was three shots out of the lead. No one else was closer than five.

Woods had the 36-hole lead for the second straight tournament, and for the second straight time failed to break par in the third round. He felt differently Saturday than he did at the Australian Open in Sydney, where he opened with three straight bogeys and finished the day six shots out of the lead.

"Most of the time today, it wasn't me," Woods said. "I hit a lot of good shots today."

The wind was strong and chilly from the start, and rarely stayed the same direction very long. With a wedge in his hand, Woods went some 40 feet long on the second hole that led to a three-putt bogey. Another wedge on the par-5 13th sailed over the green and left a pitch he had no chance to get close.

Both players ran into trouble on the par-5 16th.

Johnson was playing in the group ahead of Woods, felt the breeze in his face and tried to hammer a driver that went left of the grass and into the gallery. He tried to clear a creek and went into the trees to the right before pitching out and taking a bogey.

Woods was in the fairway, but a gust took his fairway metal too far right and into a hazard. He said he thought about trying to hit out behind a pair of rocks before choosing to take a penalty drop, and he also made bogey.

The difference was how they finished.

Johnson three-putted the 17th for another bogey, then drilled his 7-iron at the flag on the 18th for the most unlikely finish to his round. Woods had to settle for pars.

Johnson didn't realize his eagle on the final hole was for the lead. And even though he has a one-shot advantage, he doesn't think he's in contention until the final hour of any tournament.

What about being in the last group with Woods, who has gone 26 starts since his last win?

"He's never going to shock me on the golf course because he's certainly the best player I've ever played with," Johnson said. "I'm glad I'm playing this week and I have the opportunity to go into Sunday with at least a chance."

Johnson, a former Masters champion, saw his streak end this year of four straight seasons winning on the PGA Tour. The Chevron World Challenge counts toward the world ranking, but is not official for the tour. He still wouldn't mind using it as a springboard for the next season, much like Tom Lehman did in the early days of this event, and Jim Furyk did in 2009.

Woods was not too disappointed about going from a three-shot lead to a one-shot deficit.

He felt as though he played as well as he had the first two days, without having much luck with the wind. And for a guy who has gone two years without winning, the hardest part of hoisting a trophy is getting a chance.

Woods still had his three-shot lead when he chipped in from behind the fourth green for birdie. The wind was at its worst on the sixth hole. Woods felt it at his back and to the right, yet as the ball was in the air, it came against him from the left. He came up well short, chipped 7 feet by the hole and lipped out.

Hunter Mahan was the first player to make a run at Woods, going out in 33 and tying for the lead briefly after Woods had a three-putt bogey on the par-3 eighth.

Woods seemed to steady himself with a beautiful flop shot on the 10th that ran up the bank and trickled back 4 feet from the cup, and a solid approach to 18 feet for a two-putt birdie on the 11th.

But he went long of the 13th, turning a birdie hole into a bogey. He made a mess of the 16th with his penalty shot. And he had nothing to match an eagle from the fairway by Johnson on the final hole.

Jason Dufner wins HP Byron Nelson thanks to long birdie putt on final hole

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Jason Dufner won the HP Byron Nelson Championship Sunday for his second victory in in his last three PGA Tour starts.

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Stephen Hawkins

Associated Press

Series: PGA Tour

IRVING, Texas -- Jason Dufner made a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday for a one-stroke victory in the HP Byron Nelson Championship, his second victory in four weeks.

The winning putt wrapped up a closing 3-under 67 for an 11-under 269 total, one ahead of Dicky Pride.

Dufner got his first PGA Tour victory at New Orleans on April 29, then took a week off to get married. He also led alone by one stroke after the second and third rounds here at TPC at Four Seasons.

Pride, whose only PGA Tour victory in a 20-year professional career came in 1994, was at 10 under with a par-saving 22-foot putt at No. 18 after hitting his drive into the water.

Moments later, Dufner made a putt that was only a few feet longer but on virtually the same line as the one Pride made to finish his round of 67.

J.J. Henry, who had an early hole-in-one, was in the lead at 11 under after consecutive birdies at Nos. 15 and 16, overcoming a bad tee shot on the first and a greenside bunker on the second.

But Henry, in the final group with Dufner, hit his tee shot at the par-3 17th over the green. The former TCU star lost the lead with a double bogey after a 4-foot putt slid just outside the cup.

After watching Henry's meltdown, Dufner made a tap-in par at No. 17 and then hit a big drive on No. 18 in the middle of the fairway. He hit his approach to the middle of the green, avoiding a playoff with the long putt and joining Hunter Mahan as the only two-time winners this season.

Pride had made a 13-foot birdie putt at No. 17.

Joe Durant, who was the final alternate added to the Nelson field, shot a 65 to finish in a tie for third at 271 with Henry (68), Marc Leishman (66) and rookie Jonas Blixt (66).

Phil Mickelson, making his first Nelson start in five years, had four consecutive birdies on the front nine and went on to a round of 66 to finish four strokes back. He tied for seventh with Ken Duke, who also had a string of four birdies in a row in his own 66.

While Henry and Dufner were playing the 17th hole, Pride drove his tee shot at No. 18 left into the water. After his drop, Pride hit his approach to 22 feet and made that par-saving putt to remain at 10 under, letting out a scream when the ball dropped into the hole.

Pride, who went to the University of Alabama, then watched the final group play the 18th hole and waiting to see if he would be in a playoff. Even he had to applaud on the clinching putt by Dufner, who went to rival Auburn.

Matt Kuchar, the fifth-ranked player who won The Players Championship a week earlier, had 70 and finished at 276 in a tie for 15th. He was trying to become the first PGA Tour player since Tiger Woods in 2009 to win in consecutive weeks.

Henry's ace came at the 154-yard No. 5 hole, when he hit a pitching wedge. When the ball rolled back into the cup, Henry thrust both of his arms in the air, then had an emphatic uppercut and he celebrated with the gallery.

After Henry's drive at the 504-yard 15th was way right and under a tree, he hit his approach to the middle of the green and made a 32-foot birdie putt that led to another, though more subdued fistpump. His approach at the easier par-5 16th went in a greenside bunker, but he blasted inside 2 1/2 feet for a birdie to get to 11 under.

Then came the tee shot at No. 17 that carried over the green on the opposite side of the hole.

Dufner had consecutive bogeys at Nos. 2 and 3, but quickly responded with consecutive birdies on the following two holes.

After a bogey at No. 11 following a bad tee shot, Dufner got back to 10 under with his birdie at the par-5 16th, when he blasted out of a greenside bunker to 6 feet.

The last of Mickelson's four birdies in a row came when he holed a 30-footer at the 461-yard eighth hole. That got him at 6 under at about the same time the final group of Henry and Dufner were finishing at No. 1, both at 8 under.

Mickelson was 8 under after a birdie at the par-5 16th, but his 3 1/2-foot par putt at the following par 3 circled the cup and rolled back toward him for his first bogey of the day. He finished with another bogey at No. 18, though that could have been worse after his approach from the rough went into the water. After his drop, his 54-foot par-saving putt rolled over the cup, banged into the edge but didn't drop.

Vijay Singh, a 34-time PGA Tour winner whose last victory was in 2008, was within two strokes of the lead after his third-round 66. But he hit his first tee shot Sunday into the rough and his second into a greenside bunker on way to bogeys on his first three holes and a 71 for a ninth-place tie at 275.

Jason Dufner leads Zach Johnson by one stroke after three rounds at Colonial

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Jason Dufner saved par on the final hole at Colonial on Saturday after a wayward tee shot and finished three rounds at 15-under 195.

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Stephen Hawkins

Associated Press

Series: PGA Tour

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson have set up what will basically be a match-play final round for the winner's plaid jacket at the  Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

It will be Dufner, whose only two PGA Tour victories came in the last four weeks, against the 2007 Masters champion who got the last of his seven wins two years ago at Hogan's Alley.

"It seems like one of us is either going to win or finish second," Dufner said after his 4-under 66 in the third round Saturday.

After two bogeys the previous three holes, Dufner matched playing partner Johnson's birdie putt on the 17th hole and overcame a wayward final tee shot to save par and keep the lead.

Dufner's 15-under 195 total put him a stroke ahead of Johnson, who shot 65. Tom Gillis was a distant third at 7 under after a 69.

"I really wasn't aware of (the separation) until I looked at the board on 13. It was more than I anticipated," Johnson said. "It seemed like I didn't hear too many roars in front of us, so that's a telling sign. ... I still have 18 holes and that's my focus. I totally anticipate Dufner to keep doing what he's doing. There's not a whole lot going on that's wrong."

Dufner, the winner last week in the HP Byron Nelson Championship about 30 miles away, is trying to win for the third time in his last four starts. He also is trying to do something only Ben Hogan has done.

Hogan, Dufner's hero, is the only player to win both PGA Tour events in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the same year. When he did it in 1946, they weren't played in consecutive weeks.

The last player to win in consecutive weeks on the PGA Tour was Tiger Woods in 2009. Nobody won more than two tournaments last season.

Like Johnson, who wore a plaid-collared shirt Saturday, the first time Dufner realized the gap from everyone else had widened was when he saw that scoreboard at 156-yard 13th hole. And he had a three-stroke lead then.

"From that point on I kind of knew that ... we are going to be battling it out in kind of a unique situation," Dufner said. "The leaderboards here most of the year have been pretty packed and you got a lot of guys having a chance to win the title the last nine holes."

Dufner avoided a playoff at the Nelson with a 25-foot birdie on the 72nd hole. He has led or shared the lead after 12 of his last 35 rounds, including five of the last seven.

After bogeys at Nos. 14 and 16, Dufner's approach at the 379-yard 17th rolled about 8 feet from the flag.

Johnson, within a stroke of the lead after a 17-foot birdie at the par-3 16th, followed Dufner at No. 17 with a shot to the same spot -- his ball up and stopped against the one already on the green. After a rules official sorted out the marks, Johnson curled in a birdie putt. Dufner then did the same to keep his lead.

When his final tee shot of the day went way left, closer to the 10th fairway than the 18th, Dufner got his next shot on the green and two-putted from 68 feet to save par.

Before winning at New Orleans on April 29, the 35-year-old Dufner was winless in his previous 163 PGA Tour starts. He then took a week off to get married, returned to play at The Players Championship before winning the Nelson.

Bo Van Pelt had his streak of 13 consecutive sub-par rounds at Hogan's Alley end with a 71. But he was fourth at 204, one ahead of John Huh and Ryan Palmer.

When Dufner and Johnson completed their first nine holes, they were tied at 13 under and had a five-stroke lead on the rest of the field. Dufner then had three straight birdies.

Dufner made a 20-foot birdie putt at the 386-yard 10th hole, where Johnson had his first two-putt of the round -- from nearly 51 feet -- to save par.

Dufner had a streak of 38 consecutive bogey-free holes snapped at the 449-yard 14th when he drove into the rough then missed the green with the second shot. But Johnson had his first three-putt of the tournament at the same hole, from 60 feet after his approach from a fairway bunker.

At No. 15, Johnson's second shot settled into a grassy clump only inches from rolling over a ledge into a ditch. With his feet together to keep from falling over himself, Johnson's pitch from about 81 feet rolled only inches from the cup to set up a tap-in par-saver.

Johnson needed only eight putts for a 31 on the front nine, though some of those putts were just to save par since he hit just three of those greens in regulation.

"Today was a battle as far as my ball-striking. With the exception one lucky shot on 15, I didn't put myself in terrible position," Johnson said. "I just scored. I think Dufner played better than I did, but I scored."

Divots: Masters runner-up Louis Oosthuizen opened his third round with four consecutive birdies. He was in a group of seven players tied for seventh, but 11 strokes behind Dufner. .. That group at 206 includes Kelly Kraft, the 2011 U.S. Amateur who turned pro after the Masters. The former SMU player was 6 under through his first eight holes and played even the rest of the round. ... Vijay Singh, who got the last of his 34 PGA Tour wins four years ago, was 4 under through six holes Saturday. He had four consecutive bogeys on the back nine.