NORTON, September 5, 2011 (AFP) - American Bubba Watson, chasing his third victory of the season, fired a one-under par 70 to seize a one-stroke lead after Sunday's third round of the US PGA Deutsche Bank Championship.
Watson, who shared the 36-hole lead with Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and Masters runner-up Adam Scott, finished 54 holes on 11-under par 202, nudging atop a star-studded leaderboard entering Monday's US holiday finale.
"Anybody has a chance," Watson said.
Scott and fellow Australian Jason Day, who shared runner-up honors at the Masters last April, were one stroke adrift alongside Americans Jerry Kelly, Chez Reavie and Brendan Steele.
World No. 1 Luke Donald of England was among another pack of five on 204 that included South Africa's Schwartzel and Americans Jim Furyk, Gary Woodland and Webb Simpson.
"It's not even that there's so many guys. It's who the guys are too," said Steele." There's a lot of talent there. Somebody is going to have to definitely go and take this tournament. It's not going to be given to them."
Watson opened with a bogey, answered with three birdies on the front nine and another to begin the back side, then was undone by swirling winds and took bogeys at 11, 12 and 15 before a birdie at the par-4 17th gave him the lead.
"It just depends on who's got the hot putter or how bad the wind is," Watson said. "It's not really a go-low course when the wind is like this.
"You just never know. Even par might give me the victory."
Australian Geoff Ogilvy fired a 66 and Sweden's Robert Karlsson shot 64 to stand in a pack of seven players only three strokes back, and Phil Mickelson, using a belly putter for the first time in an event, fired a day's low 63 to stand four back, as was three-time major winner Ernie Els of South Africa.
"I struck it as well as I have in a long time," Mickelson said.
In all, 23 players are within four strokes of Watson entering the US Labor Day final round of the $8 million tournament, the second event of the PGA season-ending playoffs. Only 70 players advance to the next event in two weeks.
"I don't think the scores are relevant," Ogilvy said. "The people up there are the relevant thing. Every single year, it's exactly the same thing -- the best players on tour play well here."
Scott battled to finish his third round on level par 71, following a birdie at the par-5 second with a bogey at the third and taking a bogey at 17 before closing with a birdie on the par-5 finishing hole.
"From the time when I walked on the range until I got to the first tee, the wind certainly strengthened a lot," Scott said. "I don't know that we saw any real low scores out there this afternoon. It was playing pretty difficult."
Schwartzel stumbled to a 72, taking a bogey on the par-3 third, sandwiching a bogey at the par-3 11th between his only two birdies of the day and taking a final bogey at the par-4 14th.
Day, seeking his first triumph of the year, fired a 67 and likes how the TPC at Boston course feels to him.
"It sets up really nice for me," Day said. "I feel really good about my game right now."
Scores on Sunday after the third round of the $8 million US PGA Deutsche Bank Championship (par-71, USA unless noted):
202 - Bubba Watson 68-64-70
203 - Jason Day (AUS) 67-69-67, Jerry Kelly 66-69-68, Chez Reavie 67-68-68, Adam Scott (AUS) 69-63-71, Brendan Steele 69-67-67
204 - Luke Donald (GBR) 66-70-68, Jim Furyk 69-69-66, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 66-66-72, Webb Simpson 69-68-67, Gary Woodland 69-69-66
205 - Blake Adams 70-67-68, Rickie Fowler 68-67-70, Robert Karlsson (SWE) 74-67-64, Ryan Moore 68-68-69, Geoff Ogilvy (AUS) 69-70-66, Brandt Snedeker 69-64-72, Nick Watney 67-67-71
...
206 - Phil Mickelson 70-73-63, John Senden (AUS) 70-69-67, Ernie Els (RSA) 70-65-71
208 - Camilo Villegas (COL) 73-70-65, Andres Romero (ARG) 71-68-69, Yang Yong-Eun (KOR) 66-71-71, Greg Chalmers (AUS) 72-65-71, Brian Davis (GBR) 70-66-72
209 - Marc Leishman (AUS) 71-72-66, Carl Pettersson (SWE) 69-70-70, Graeme McDowell (NIR) 71-68-70
210 - Jhonattan Vegas (VEN) 71-72-67, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 71-65-74, Fredrik Jacobson (SWE) 74-66-70
211 - Robert Allenby (AUS) 70-72-69
212 - Ryuji Imada (JPN) 73-69-70, Padraig Harrington (IRL) 69-73-70, Justin Rose (GBR) 70-70-72
214 - Rory Sabbatini (RSA) 67-75-72
215 - Martin Laird (GBR) 71-72-72
216 - Aaron Baddeley (AUS) 72-69-75