The sun finally shone on the HSBC Champions tournament, but for the Indians, the third day was one of struggle as both Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa slipped down the leaderboard at the Sheshan Golf and Country Club in Shanghai on Saturday.
After the third day, which is traditionally the movers' day, Atwal was placed tied 21st while Randhawa was further down at tied 45th after shooting one-over 73 and 75 respectively.
Yet, there was one man out there -- Tiger Woods who virtually willed himself to play the kind of golf that is a dream for most others to come within a shot of the lead.
Atwal ran into an error-filled stretch of three bogeys on back nine from 11th to 13th and then closed with another one. Two birdies on 14th and 15th averted a complete disaster as he finished with five-under 211 after three rounds.
Randhawa, overnight 33rd, had just two birdies but three bogeys on front nine and another two on back nine meant he ended up with one-over 217 for three days.
But up ahead, when the dust finally settled down, Tiger Woods allowed himself the liberty of a smile and was just one shot shy of the sole leader David Howell, who, barring the bogey on the testing eighth hole, had five birdies for a 68 that kept him at 16-under 200.
Nick O'Hern was the one of the only two among the top 10 to have an error-free round of 67 that gave him a share of second place with Woods.
Keeping the Asian flag flying was Thaworn Wiratchant (69), who exploded on the final three holes with three birdies that brought him to 12-under 204 in sole fourth.
Atwal, who has been playing well in patches, admitted he was miserable on the course today.
"It was a struggle. I played awful. To top it up, I hit it into the water on 18 for bogey. On the 18th, I had been on the downslope in the last two days and I messed it up, but today I decided to go for it. Conditions were the toughest today out of the three days. The wind was blowing from different directions," said Atwal.
"I didn't play well at all. I was not very sharp on the golf course. If you're playing every week coming in to the tournament, you can do it. But I've been a bit rusty," said Atwal, who is playing only his second event in last seven weeks.
If the drizzle and intermittent rain was the bother on first two days, the sun and blue skies offered no respite today as there was some unpredictable wind from all sides.
Overnight co-leader David Howell stayed up there and this time all alone. He handled he pressure well with a 68 to move to 16-under after 14 holes, but he managed only pars thereafter.
However, fellow-Englishman and playing partner Nick Dougherty had little to smile about. He finished the day with 73 and in tied fifth.
Woods held second place on -14 under going into the ninth at which stage he was putting pressure on leader Howell. But his two birdies on front nine were negated slightly by a bogey
on the ninth.
The tough par 4 hole requires a long accurate drive down the left side missing the large fairway bunker. From there a long iron or wood will be required to reach the large but water protected green. And that is where everyone runs into trouble.
After this Woods suddenly raised his game to a higher pitch with birdies on 11th and 12th. On 14th, he slotted a 15-footer for an eagle and he was in the run for leadership.
But a wayward tee shot on 15th ended in a bogey and then again on the tough 18th, which is dogleg right par 5 with two large lakes, saw him find a closing birdie. Two great shots were followed by a wedge to the peninsula green and he duly birdied from there. He was just one behind and that everybody in golf knows is nothing for Tiger Woods.
Thomas Bjorn, with a bogey-free 69, and Michael Campbell (69) were tied for fifth with overnight leader Nick Dougherty, who struggled as he opened with a bogey and then had double bogeys on fourth and ninth for a front nine of 39, and he made up somewhat with a two-under 34 on back stretch.
China's Zhang Lian-wei slipped with a 73 and came to tenth from overnight fifth.
Leading third round scores
200 - David Howell (ENG) 65-67-68
201 - Tiger Woods (USA) 65-69-67, Nick O'Hern (AUS) 67-67-67
204 - Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 67-68-69
205 - Michael Campbell (NZL) 66-70-69, Thomas Björn (DEN) 67-69-69, Nick Dougherty (ENG) 64-68-73
206 - Vijay Singh (FIJ) 67-69-70
207 - Jean-Francois Remesy (FRA) 70-67-70
208 - Zhang Lian-wei (CHN) 67-68-73, Paul Casey (ENG) 67-68-73
209 - Peter Hanson (SWE) 69-70-70, Paul Lawrie (SCO) 64-75-70, Peter O'Malley (AUS) 64-72-73, Ian Poulter (ENG) 67-69-73, Robert-Jan Derksen (NLD) 65-70-74, Kenneth Ferrie (ENG) 66-69-74
210 - K J Choi (KOR) 65-71-74
211 - Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 67-73-71, Steven Bowditch (AUS) 71-69-71
212 - Raphaël Jacquelin (FRA) 74-71-67, John Bickerton (ENG) 68-72-72, Arjun Atwal (IND) 69-70-73, Graeme Mcdowell (IRE) 70-67-75
213 - Liang Wen-chong (CHN) 72-70-71, Steve Webster (ENG) 72-70-71, Wang Ter-chang (TPE) 71-70-72, Padraig Harrington (IRL) 69-72-72, Titch Moore (RSA) 69-71-73, Barry Lane (ENG) 73-70-70, Niclas Fasth (SWE) 70-74-69, Thomas Aiken (RSA) 72-72-69, Lee Westwood (ENG) 70-69-74, Colin Montgomerie (SCO) 74-71-68.
