AUGUSTA (Georgia), April 14: Defending champion Tiger Woods fired a six-under-par 66 to move into a share of the lead in the U.S. Masters third round on Saturday after early pacesetters Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh both faltered on the back nine.

The 26-year-old Woods, bidding for a third green jacket at a damp Augusta after steady morning rain, began the round four strokes behind leader Singh but finished the day level with Goosen at 11-under-par 205.

Goosen, the U.S. Open champion, was one ahead of the field playing the last but ran up a bogey-five after pushing his tee shot right into the trees.

The smooth-swinging South African had to settle for a 69 and a share of the lead on a dry but overcast afternoon in high humidity.

Singh, the 2000 winner, had been joint-pacesetter with playing partner Goosen at 11 under after 14 holes but dropped shots at 15 and 17 to slip back to third at nine-under 207 after carding a level-par 72.

Left-hander Phil Mickelson, aiming for his first major in his 35th professional start, carded a tidy 68 to finish the day in a share of fourth place at seven-under 209, alongside Ernie Els (72) and Spaniard Sergio Garcia (70).

Six of the world’s top seven filled the top six spots in a high-quality leader board, with British Open champion David Duval the only absentee after he missed the second-round cut by a stroke.

Woods, aiming to become the third player only to win back-to-back Masters titles, dropped a solitary shot at the par-three fourth and collected seven birdies as he relentlessly climbed into a tie for the lead on what is traditionally termed “moving day” in championship golf.

Mickelson began the third round five off the lead and stayed in touch with a blemish-free performance that featured four birdies.

Goosen, showing excellent form on the greens, had set the early third-round pace when he birdied the first three holes.

The big-hitting South African, one behind leader Singh when the rain-hit second round was finally completed in the morning, holed a monster putt from 35 feet for birdie one at the par-four first.

He then holed out from 10 feet at the 575-yard second and sank a curling 20-footer to pick up his third shot at the par-four third.

That moved the 32-year-old South African to 11 under for the tournament, two ahead of Singh who could only par his first three holes.

Singh led after 36 holes following rounds of 70 and 65.

Brad Faxon eagled the par-four 11th during the third round with a six iron from 193 yards on his way to a 69 and a one-under total of 215.

His eagle was the second only at that hole in Masters history, the first having been achieved by Jerry Barber in the first round of the 1962 tournament.

Third round scores:

205 Tiger Woods 70 69 66, Retief Goosen (South Africa) 69 67 69

207 Vijay Singh (Fiji) 70 65 72

209 Phil Mickelson 69 72 68, Sergio Garcia (Spain) 68 71 70, Ernie Els (South Africa) 70 67 72

210 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 70 69 71

211 Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 74 67 70, Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 69 70 72

212 Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 68 71 73

213 Chris DiMarco 70 71 72

214 Mike Weir (Canada) 72 71 71

215 Adam Scott (Australia) 71 72 72, Nick Faldo (Britain) 75 67 73, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 70 71 74, Brad Faxon 71 75 69

216 Stewart Cink 74 70 72, Davis Love III 67 75 74, Jeff Sluman 73 72 71, Nick Price (Zimbabwe) 70 76 70, Colin Montgomerie (Britain) 75 71 70

217 Billy Mayfair 74 71 72, Darren Clarke (Britain) 70 74 73, Tom Pernice Jr. 74 72 71, Mark Brooks 74 72 71, Jerry Kelly 72 74 71, Paul McGinley (Ireland) 72 74 71, John Daly 74 73 70

218 Kirk Triplett 74 70 74, Bernhard Langer (Germany) 73 72 73, Charles Howell III 74 73 71

219 Jesper Parnevik (Sweden) 70 72 77, Robert Allenby (Australia) 73 70 76, Justin Leonard 70 75 74, Greg Norman (Australia) 71 76 72

220 Rocco Mediate 75 68 77, Bob Estes 73 72 75, Shigeki Maruyama (Japan) 75 72 73

221 Craig Stadler 73 72 76, Scott Verplank 70 75 76, Lee Westwood (Britian) 75 72 74

222 Steve Lowery 75 71 76, Fred Couples 73 73 76

223 Tom Watson 71 76 76, David Toms 73 74 76—Reuters