DORAL, Fla. (AP) - Patrick Reed turned his game around in four holes Saturday and wound up with a 3-under 69 in much tamer conditions at Doral, giving him a two-shot lead at the Cadillac Championship going into a final round that will prominently feature Tiger Woods for the first time this year.
Reed rolled in a 40-foot eagle putt on No. 8, and started the back nine with consecutive birdies. He drove the green on the par-4 16th for a two-putt birdie and wound up with a two-shot lead over PGA champion Jason Dufner (68) and Hunter Mahan, who bogeyed his last hole for a 71.
Woods delivered the low round of the tournament and his best round of the year.
He made three birdie putts of about 15 feet or longer on the back nine, including a 35-footer down the slope on the par-5 15th, and had a 6-under 66. His goal was to get back to even par for the tournament and hope to be within five shots of the leader.
It turned out much better.
Woods was one of five players who were under par, and he goes into Sunday only three shots behind as he tries to win at Doral for the fifth time. Jamie Donaldson escaped from the palm trees right of the 18th and made par for a 71 to share fourth place with Woods.
Reed will be going for his third win in his last 14 starts dating to the Wyndham Championship in August. He was at 4-under 212, the highest score to lead after 54 holes at Doral since a three-way tie at 212 in 1985. Reed also won the Humana Challenge in January.
PUERTO RICO OPEN
RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico (AP) - Chesson Hadley took the third-round lead in the Puerto Rico Open, shooting a 5-under 67 in windy conditions at Trump International.
Making his 13th PGA Tour start, the 26-year-old Hadley had four birdies in an early five-hole stretch and also birdied the par-4 14th in wind gusting to 25 mph. He had a 16-under 200 total.
Danny Lee was a stroke back after a 66.
Hadley won twice last year on the Web.com Tour, taking the Rex Hospital Open in his hometown of Raleigh, N.C., and the season-ending Web.com Tour Championship. In Raleigh, he began the final round five strokes behind Lee and rallied to beat the New Zealand player by two strokes with a 64.
Jason Gore and Jonathan Byrd were tied for third at 14 under. Gore shot 66, and Byrd had a 67.
James Driscoll, the second-round leader after matching the tournament record with a 63, had a 75 to drop into a tie for 20th at 9 under.