THOUSAND OAKS, December 8, 2013 (AFP) - A day after he hit every green in regulation en route to a 10-under par 62 that equalled his own Sherwood Country Club course record, Woods found the going tougher on a day that started in cold rain and ended with the sun shining and a chilly wind whipping.
Woods notched the last of his four birdies at the par-four 18th, balancing four bogeys as he built a 54-hole total of 11-under par 205 and maintained his two-stroke cushion over fellow American Zach Johnson.
Johnson briefly took a one-stroke lead after a birdie at the ninth, but two-double bogeys -- at the par-three 12th and 15th -- kept him from applying more pressure.
He, too, birdied 18 to cap an even-par 72 for 207.
Bubba Watson was alone in third after a 69 for 209. Watson's was one of just four rounds under par produced by the elite field of 18.
One of those belonged to former world number one Rory McIlroy, whose four-under 68 was an impressive low round of the day but still left him 13 shots off the lead after his struggles in the first two rounds.
Third-round scores on Saturday in the $3.5 million Northwestern Mutual World Challenge hosted by Tiger Woods:
205 - Tiger Woods 71-62-72
207 - Zach Johnson 67-68-72
209 - Bubba Watson 70-70-69
212 - Matt Kuchar 68-68-76
213 - Webb Simpson 73-71-69
214 - Jason Day (AUS) 76-68-70, Graeme McDowell (NIR) 72-67-75
215 - Jim Furyk 72-69-74, Bill Haas 73-68-74
216 - Ian Poulter (ENG) 76-67-73
218 - Rory McIlroy (NIR) 73-77-68, Keegan Bradley 75-68-75
222 - Hunter Mahan 70-80-72
223 - Lee Westwood (ENG) 74-75-74, Steve Stricker 75-74-74, Jason Dufner 74-71-78
225 - Dustin Johnson 74-79-72
226 - Jordan Spieth 77-72-77