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David Toms frittered away a commanding seven-stroke lead to trail South Korean Charlie Wi by one shot after Saturday's third round at the Colonial Invitational.
Full scoreboard and LIVE scoring.
On a blustery day at Colonial Country Club, American Toms struggled with his putting on the way to an ugly four-over-par 74 in his bid to end a PGA Tour title drought of five years.
Having opened with bogey-free 62s in his first two rounds here to spreadeagle the field, Toms dropped three shots in his first six holes before finishing at 12-under 198.
Playing partner Wi, who has yet to win on the US circuit, fired an ice-cool 66 that included five birdies and a lone bogey to hold the outright lead at 13 under.
"Starting the day I was hoping that maybe I might be three to four shots near David," Wi, 39, told reporters after becoming the 54-hole leader for the first time on the PGA Tour.
"But to be one in front of him I'm very pleasantly surprised. I played really well today and David didn't.
"I know that tomorrow he is going to be geared up to play so it will come down to the end," said California-based Wi who has won nine professional titles worldwide. "Hopefully I'm the one finishing on top."
John Senden (70) was alone in third at nine under, a stroke in front of fellow Australian Stuart Appleby (67) and Americans Paul Goydos (67) and Mark Wilson (71).
Toms, seven ahead of the chasing pack over night, made a promising start to the third round when he birdied the par-five first.
However his day began to unravel as he bogeyed the second, third and sixth to reach the turn at 14 under with his advantage cut to three.
"I'm a couple over par after six holes and feel like I'm not playing really bad and the rest of the day it was just kind of a struggle," said Toms, a 12-times winner on the PGA Tour whose most recent victory came at the 2006 Sony Open.
"For the most part I felt like I was hanging on all day trying not to make a mistake rather than going out and playing great. That's probably what that big lead does to you."
Toms recorded his second birdie of the round at the par-five 11th where he knocked in an eight-footer, but worse was to follow when he three-putted from eight feet to double-bogey 14.
"The double at 14 was inexcusable," the 44-year-old American said. "I was in a great spot to get up and down and came away with a six. That's just kind of the way the day went."
Wi, who had also birdied the 11th, trailed Toms by just one stroke at that point when play was suspended for 80 minutes due to the threat of lightning.
Any hope by Toms that he could regain positive momentum during the break proved unfounded after the players returned to the course.
At the par-three 16th, Wi rammed in a 32-foot birdie putt while Toms missed his par attempt there from 15 feet for a two-shot swing as the American finally surrendered the lead.
They each parred the last two holes for Wi to hold a one-stroke advantage going into Sunday's final round.
"Charlie, he putted great today," said Toms who had a total of 30 putts in his 74. "He kept the pressure on all day. He made a lot of good par putts. He made some good birdie putts.
"He played like you have to play with the conditions that we had today, where they were tough."
Full scoreboard and LIVE scoring.
On a blustery day at Colonial Country Club, American Toms struggled with his putting on the way to an ugly four-over-par 74 in his bid to end a PGA Tour title drought of five years.
Having opened with bogey-free 62s in his first two rounds here to spreadeagle the field, Toms dropped three shots in his first six holes before finishing at 12-under 198.
Playing partner Wi, who has yet to win on the US circuit, fired an ice-cool 66 that included five birdies and a lone bogey to hold the outright lead at 13 under.
"Starting the day I was hoping that maybe I might be three to four shots near David," Wi, 39, told reporters after becoming the 54-hole leader for the first time on the PGA Tour.
"But to be one in front of him I'm very pleasantly surprised. I played really well today and David didn't.
"I know that tomorrow he is going to be geared up to play so it will come down to the end," said California-based Wi who has won nine professional titles worldwide. "Hopefully I'm the one finishing on top."
John Senden (70) was alone in third at nine under, a stroke in front of fellow Australian Stuart Appleby (67) and Americans Paul Goydos (67) and Mark Wilson (71).
Toms, seven ahead of the chasing pack over night, made a promising start to the third round when he birdied the par-five first.
However his day began to unravel as he bogeyed the second, third and sixth to reach the turn at 14 under with his advantage cut to three.
"I'm a couple over par after six holes and feel like I'm not playing really bad and the rest of the day it was just kind of a struggle," said Toms, a 12-times winner on the PGA Tour whose most recent victory came at the 2006 Sony Open.
"For the most part I felt like I was hanging on all day trying not to make a mistake rather than going out and playing great. That's probably what that big lead does to you."
Toms recorded his second birdie of the round at the par-five 11th where he knocked in an eight-footer, but worse was to follow when he three-putted from eight feet to double-bogey 14.
"The double at 14 was inexcusable," the 44-year-old American said. "I was in a great spot to get up and down and came away with a six. That's just kind of the way the day went."
Wi, who had also birdied the 11th, trailed Toms by just one stroke at that point when play was suspended for 80 minutes due to the threat of lightning.
Any hope by Toms that he could regain positive momentum during the break proved unfounded after the players returned to the course.
At the par-three 16th, Wi rammed in a 32-foot birdie putt while Toms missed his par attempt there from 15 feet for a two-shot swing as the American finally surrendered the lead.
They each parred the last two holes for Wi to hold a one-stroke advantage going into Sunday's final round.
"Charlie, he putted great today," said Toms who had a total of 30 putts in his 74. "He kept the pressure on all day. He made a lot of good par putts. He made some good birdie putts.
"He played like you have to play with the conditions that we had today, where they were tough."
