Australia's Aaron Baddeley and the US' Steve Stricker both birdied the final hole in Chicago on Saturday to seize a one-shot lead over Tiger Woods after three rounds of the BMW Championship.
Stricker continued his recent run of form with a flawless seven-under 64 in benign conditions at Cog Hill, while Baddeley posted a 65.
Their closing birdies gave them a bit of breathing room over Woods, who held the lead for most of the back nine as carded a 65.
Stricker's round was highlighted by an eagle with a wedge from 112 yards at the par-four eighth.
"That's as loud a roar I've heard for a shot of mine forever," he said.
Baddeley, meanwhile, was pleased with his birdie, birdie finish.
"I had no idea where I was on the leaderboard," Baddelely said. "All I knew was I wanted to finish birdie, birdie."
Woods, who has won three times at Cog Hill, continued his love affair with the course.
"That's probably the highest score I could have shot," he said. "If I'd made a few putts, it really could have been a deep round. I was really hitting it pretty good, but I left a few putts right on the edge."
The US$7 million tournament is the third of four in the inaugural PGA playoff series that concludes next week with the Tour Championship.
Stricker and Woods are second and third respectively on the FedEx Cup points list, behind leader Phil Mickelson, who has taken the week off.
If they finish first and second, both will go ahead of Mickelson.
The points leader after next week collects a US$10 million bonus paid into his retirement account.
England's Justin Rose recovered from a poor start to birdie the final two holes for a 69, but it was too little, too late. He ended the day five strokes behind in fourth place on 203.
"I wasn't playing terribly, but I felt my posture got a little slack and I bumped up my posture after I hit my 11th tee shot, and from then on I hit a few better tee shots," Rose said. "On a day like today, when you needed to be in the fairway to make birdies, it was a little frustrating starting out. And the way Steve [Stricker] was playing, it felt even worse -- but I'm happy with the way I finished."
The only other two British players in the field, Ian Poulter and Luke Donald, dropped out of contention.
Poulter produced another good display with his long game, but struggled on the greens, shooting 69 for 209, a distant 11 shots off the pace.
And it was too little, too late for Chicago-based Donald, who finally gave his fans something to cheer about with a respectable 68. However, he was still near the back of the field at 214.
Donald is in danger of losing a spot in next week's Tour Championship, in which only the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings compete.
He is 28th in the standings, and after his poor start here his face largely depends on what others do.
Defending champion Bradley Dredge of Wales and Australian Brett Rumsford had a share of the lead on 13 under par after the third round at the European Masters on Saturday.
The pair were one shot clear of overnight leader Oliver Wilson, who almost pulled out of the tournament with a stiff neck but struggled through the day to post a one-under round of 70.
"I was really excited about today, I had a chance to build a lead and separate myself from the field but the injury really deflated me," the 26-year-old Briton said.
"I could not hit my irons properly and hit some horrendous shots because I just couldn't get through the ball. Even when it didn't hurt I knew it was there and you can't commit to the shot," he said.
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