KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Gary Woodland birdied the 18th hole for a 5-under 67 to move into a three-way tie for the lead with Marc Leishman and Shubhankar Sharma after three rounds of the CIMB Classic on Saturday.
Woodland just missed an eagle putt, while Sharma (66) and Leishman (67) had to settle for pars on the par-five final hole. Playing in the last threesome of the day, the leading trio had 54-hole totals of 19-under 197 on the TPC Kuala Lumpur West course.
They had a two-stroke lead over Louis Oosthuizen, who moved up the leaderboard with a 65, and first-round leader Bronson Burgoon (67) in the first of three U.S. PGA Tour events in Asia.
Woodland equaled the course record of 61 on Friday that Justin Thomas shot on his way to winning the event in 2015. The American was again consistent.
"Kind of got a little loose there a little bit on the back nine, maybe ran out of gas a little, but it was nice to finish up with a birdie and get some momentum going into tomorrow," Woodland said.
Leishman had an eagle and three birdies on his first five holes to be 5 under, but was 1 over on the back nine with bogeys on the 11th and 13th after a birdie on the 10th.
"Happy with the round, gave myself a good chance tomorrow, so hopefully I can be hot like I was that first 10 holes today," Leishman said.
Sharma has already won in Malaysia this year when he clinched the Maybank Championship in February.
"Good thing is that I've been in this position before so I know what happens and what my mind goes through, so I'll just try and relax myself as much as possible," Sharma said. "The way I'm playing, I'm pretty sure I'll play well tomorrow as well."
Stewart Cink shot 63 for the low round of the day and was four strokes off the lead. Thomas, trying to win the tournament for the third time in four years, had a 69 and was at 12-under, seven behind.
