Woods sights 10th Tour
win of the year

Tiger Woods finished three strokes ahead of the field in the third round of the Johnnie Walker Classic on Saturday as he closed towards his 10th Tour victory of the year.

The American world number one added a second successive 65 on the Alpine Golf and Sports Club course in suburban Bangkok to move to 18 under par in the $1.28 million event.

Woods hit an eagle and five birdies, including three in succession in the second half of his round, to remain well on target for the $194,690 first prize.

Australia's Rod Pampling carded a flawless five-under-par 67 which left him tied for second place with New Zealand's Michael Campbell.

Defending champion Campbell ignited his hopes of retaining the title by establishing a course record with a nine-under-par 63.

Australia's Geoff Ogilvy, runner-up to Campbell last year, similarly did not drop a stroke in his second successive round of 67.

Pampling, 31, did his utmost to keep in sight of Woods and birdied three of his closing six holes in his best display since he led all the way to win the 1999 Canon Challenge.

Woods eased clear of his rivals with a birdie and an eagle in his outward nine and, when it seemed the chasing pack were crowding in, moved into overdrive with three consecutive birdies from the 13th hole and one more at the par-five 17th.

"I'm happy with the way I am playing and I am driving it well and that's what you have to do around this course," Woods said.

"I'm in a nice position and gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities and never put myself in danger of losing shots, except for 10 and 11 where I made two good saves."

"I kind of expected Tiger to forge ahead today but I'm very pleased to stay in there with him," Pampling said.

"It hasn't been the best of years, so it's nice to be sitting up there. I had a few butterflies on the first tee today but after I put my drive down the middle, that was the end of them.

"I'm going to have to go really low tomorrow to win but I feel really relaxed and Tiger helped in that regard, talking to me today, and besides, I also know his caddy really well as he used to caddy for me.

"I just need to get off to a good front nine, which I have not been doing for the first three days. If I can shoot three or four under then I have a good chance."

Campbell's round was his second 63 in three tournaments. The New Zealander hit a similar score and equalled the course record in Jerez, Spain, on the last day of the Volvo Masters earlier this month when he shared third place with England's Lee Westwood.

Strangely, Campbell's round started with a bogey, just as it had done in Jerez.

Campbell landed a wedge shot from 80 yards at the par-five 17th to a yard of the pin, from where he holed out.

"I have got myself in position to win the tournament but it depends on Tiger," Campbell said. "The situtation right now is kind of fun and I will enjoy it.

"My 63 is a great score. I spoke to Sergio (Garcia) in the locker-room this morning and we said we would need to break the course record to have a chance.

"He gave me a little smile when I had the birdie at the 17th."

Victory for Campbell would be his sixth in a dazzling 12-month spell, although the 31-year-old player appreciates, all too well, the enormity of his final round task.

"I can't control what Tiger does," Campbell said. "He'll be favourite to win, which would be to our advantage. All the expectation is on him to win the event, from media, supporters and everyone.

"All I can do is play my own game and focus on my own game, which is a different game from his, as he is a phenomenal player.

"But it would be great to defend the trophy as it has never been done before. The names on the trophy are all fantastic players and to do it in such a strong field would be such a great feat."