ORLANDO (Reuters) - Britain's Martin Laird regained his composure after making successive bogeys to head into Sunday's final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a two shot lead.
The Scotsman wobbled with bogeys on the 14th and 15th but recovered to birdie the next hole and finish the day with a two-under 70 and a 54-hole total of 11-under par.
It is the third time Laird has led after 54 holes in a PGA Tour event -- and he does not have fond memories of the last occasion.
At the Barclays in August, taking a three-shot lead into the final day, he three-putted the final hole and lost to American Matt Kuchar in a playoff.
Laird said he had taken the positives out of that disappointing experience.
"It kind of showed me you don't have to play perfect to win. I came so close while not having my perfect game.
"You don't have to have every aspect of your game firing on all cylinders to win tournaments. There's just something -- you need a couple of breaks here or there and really make some putts," he said.
Spencer Levin of the U.S. ended the round in outright second place, two behind Laird, after shooting 71. Levin briefly shared the lead with Laird but made successive bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes to slip behind.
Americans Bubba Watson (68) and Steve Marino (71) were tied for third place, four shots behind Laird, who was searching for just his second PGA Tour victory but has nine players within six strokes of him.
Tiger Woods' hopes of a seventh win at Bay Hill were effectively sunk when he twice found the water in a disappointing round of 74, leaving him 10 strokes behind Laird.
On the 13th, Woods made a mess of a routine approach from the middle of the fairway, finding the water short of the green and double bogeying.
The former world number one was in damp trouble again on the par-5 16th when he went for an ambitious shot from a fairway bunker 184 yards from the hole and ended up with a bogey.
"The round kind of turned at 13. I had to get aggressive there," Woods said.
"I figured I needed to probably shoot three or four under par at least to have a chance going into tomorrow. I paid the price for it."
Rickie Fowler also had problems, double bogeying after a wayward tee shot into the water at the sixth, then three-putting the par-three seventh, but the 22-year-old American recovered to card a 70 and end the day tied with David Toms at six-under.
The Scotsman wobbled with bogeys on the 14th and 15th but recovered to birdie the next hole and finish the day with a two-under 70 and a 54-hole total of 11-under par.
It is the third time Laird has led after 54 holes in a PGA Tour event -- and he does not have fond memories of the last occasion.
At the Barclays in August, taking a three-shot lead into the final day, he three-putted the final hole and lost to American Matt Kuchar in a playoff.
Laird said he had taken the positives out of that disappointing experience.
"It kind of showed me you don't have to play perfect to win. I came so close while not having my perfect game.
"You don't have to have every aspect of your game firing on all cylinders to win tournaments. There's just something -- you need a couple of breaks here or there and really make some putts," he said.
Spencer Levin of the U.S. ended the round in outright second place, two behind Laird, after shooting 71. Levin briefly shared the lead with Laird but made successive bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes to slip behind.
Americans Bubba Watson (68) and Steve Marino (71) were tied for third place, four shots behind Laird, who was searching for just his second PGA Tour victory but has nine players within six strokes of him.
Tiger Woods' hopes of a seventh win at Bay Hill were effectively sunk when he twice found the water in a disappointing round of 74, leaving him 10 strokes behind Laird.
On the 13th, Woods made a mess of a routine approach from the middle of the fairway, finding the water short of the green and double bogeying.
The former world number one was in damp trouble again on the par-5 16th when he went for an ambitious shot from a fairway bunker 184 yards from the hole and ended up with a bogey.
"The round kind of turned at 13. I had to get aggressive there," Woods said.
"I figured I needed to probably shoot three or four under par at least to have a chance going into tomorrow. I paid the price for it."
Rickie Fowler also had problems, double bogeying after a wayward tee shot into the water at the sixth, then three-putting the par-three seventh, but the 22-year-old American recovered to card a 70 and end the day tied with David Toms at six-under.
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