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Buckle joins Snedeker atop Buick

Australian Andrew Buckle battled to the top of a jammed leader board here on Saturday, grabbing a share of the third-round lead alongside Brandt Snedeker in the PGA Buick Invitational.

The 24-year-old from Brisbane birdied the par-five 18th hole to complete a four-under 68 on the demanding Torrey Pines South course.

His three-round total of 11-under 205 put him level with Snedeker, a fellow US PGA Tour rookie who first seized the tournament lead with a scintillating 61 on Thursday.

Snedeker, who held a three-shot lead after the second round, amazingly clung to a portion of first place despite a wild round that included seven bogeys and five birdies.

They were one shot in front of US player Kevin Sutherland, who fired a two-under 70 for 206, with world No. 1 Tiger Woods, the two-time defending champion, heading a group of four players sharing fourth on 207.

Woods, who started the day seven shots behind Snedeker, climbed up the leader board with birdies at three, six and seven.

But he didn't make another birdie the rest of the day. He missed several opportunities from within 3m, including at the 18th.

There a superb bunker shot went to waste when the ensuing putt went left of the hole all the way.

"I didn't think it could go left," admitted Woods. "I played inside, thinking it was going to go right, and it went left."

Still, Woods -- who has never failed to improve or maintain his standing in the final round in his nine previous starts here -- wasn't too unhappy with his position.

"I had opportunities to make a few more birdies coming in, didn't do it," Woods said. "But also more important, I didn't drop a shot. I made some nice, key putts to keep the round going and keep momentum and keep me in contention."

Woods was tied with fellow US golfers Troy Matteson (69), Charles Howell (73) and Bill Haas (72).

Snedeker admitted that after his erratic day he was a little surprised to still be leading.

"I'm not going to lie," he said. "I want to be here. This is where I envision myself being."

"But if you would have asked me on Wednesday or Tuesday what my odds of being here are -- pretty slim," he said.

"I did make a lot of putts," Snedeker said. "At the end of the day, I think I made five birdies. That's a lot of birdies on this golf course. Unfortunately, I made seven bogeys. I gave myself a lot of chances and kind of survived a bad day of ball-striking."

Snedeker set the tone at the first, when he recovered from a poor tee shot to birdie. He gave that back with a bogey at the fourth, then bounced back again with a birdie at No. 5.

Buckle, meanwhile, started his climb with back to back birdies at the second and third. He gave back a shot at the par-four fifth, but birdied eight, 10, 12 and 13 to put himself atop the leader board.
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