Tiger Woods Shoots 66 to Share Lead at Abu Dhabi

(AFP) - Tiger Woods shared the joint lead in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship after Saturday's third round, firing a 66 to stand at 11-under for the tournament.

England's Robert Rock also had a 66 to put the pair two shots clear of Irishman Rory McIlroy (68), Sweden's Peter Hanson (64), Francesco Molinari of Italy (66) and Paul Lawrie of Scotland (68).

Woods started the day in the $2.7 million European Tour event tied for fifth with McIlroy and seven others on 5-under, two shy of leader Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark.

Playing confident, controlled golf off the tee in his season opener, the 36-year-old American completed a second bogey-free round in three days and added five birdies for his 66.

"I played well today," Woods said after Saturday's display. "Not doing a lot of things right, but not doing a lot of things wrong, either. Just very consistent. Things are progressing."

The lead changed hands several times on a day of perfect playing conditions, which allowed for low scoring on Abu Dhabi's testing National Course.

Several players, including Rock, took command at one stage or another before Woods edged ahead with his fifth birdie of the day at the 14th.

From there on in, he parred the next four holes and birdied the par-5 last after reaching the green comfortably in two.

His 6-under 66 was his best tournament score since he shot the same number in the second round of last year's Masters. It was while playing at Augusta National that Woods picked up the leg injury that sidelined him for most of the rest of the season.

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