MELBOURNE, Feb 7: Ernie Els slipped momentarily but was still able to stretch his lead by one to eight shots after carding a four-under-par 68 in the third round of the Classic on Saturday.
The world number three, aiming this week for his third successive win in the US$1.54 million event, mixed five birdies and an eagle with three bogeys to finish at 22-under-par 194.
"You just want to go out there and not be afraid to play your shots," South African Els said.
"A lead like this, it can start making you play a little bit safe. I don't want to do that."
Joint second at 14-under 202 were New Zealand's Gareth Paddison (67) and Australia's Adam Scott (68).
Sweden's Peter Hanson, who fired a 66, was a further shot back in a tie for fourth with Australian duo Peter Fowler (69) and Peter O'Malley (68).
After collecting three birdies and two bogeys on the front nine, the 34-year-old Els moved six clear of playing partner Scott with an eagle at the par-five 10th.
The three-times major champion reeled off consecutive birdies at 11 and 12 before faltering with a bogey five at the 396-yard 16th. He then signed off with pars on 17 and 18.
The South African's opening rounds of 60 and 66 had left him just a stroke off the European Tour record low of 125 for 36 holes, but his 18-under total of 194 was the best score to par after three rounds.
Els already holds the European Tour record for four rounds, having won last year's Johnnie Walker Classic at Lake Karrinyup in Perth, Western Australia with a 29-under-par total.
He is hot favourite to remain the only victor in the event since organisers moved it from The Vines near Perth to Melbourne in 2002. He would also become the only three-times winner of the tournament, which was first held in 1990.
The championship is co-sanctioned by the European and Australasian Tours.
Leading third round scores:
194 Ernie Els (South Africa) 60 66 68
202 Gareth Paddison (New Zealand) 67 68 67, Adam Scott 66 68 68
203 Peter Hanson (Sweden) 67 70 66, Peter O'Malley 66 69 68, Peter Fowler 66 68 69
204 Mahal Pearce (New Zealand) 65 70 69
205 Peter Baker (Britain) 69 71 65, Paul Sheehan 66 74 65, Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 64 72 69, Stephen Gallacher (Britain) 68 68 69
206 Scott Gardiner 69 67 70
207 Joakim Haeggman (Sweden) 71 68 68, James Kingston (South Africa) 71 67 69, Peter Senior 70 67 70
208 Paul Lawrie (Britain) 73 70 65, Gary Murphy (Ireland) 71 70 67, Craig Spence 67 72 69
209 Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 74 69 66, Matthew Ecob 68 73 68, Jean Van de Velde (France) 69 72 68, a-Nick Flanagan 67 71 71, Ian Poulter (Britain) 68 68 73, Richard Green 66 67 76
Donald surges ahead
PEBBLE BEACH (California): Britain's Luke Donald stormed into the second-round lead of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am after firing a seven-under-par 65 on Friday.
Standing on 10-under-par 134 after 36 holes, Donald leads world number two Vijay Singh, Tom Pernice Jr., J.J. Henry and Ken Duke by one shot.
Phil Mickelson, already a winner on the PGA Tour this season, shot his second-straight 68 and is two strokes off the lead in a tie for sixth, along with Arron Oberholser and Robert Gamez.
Donald recorded his 65 at Pebble Beach Golf Links, the host course for this event.
Players will complete one round each at Spyglass and Poppy Hills and two, including the final 18 holes, at Pebble Beach. The cut will be made after the third round.
Through 17 holes of the second round, the 26-year-old Donald had carded eight birdies and nine pars but on the par-five 18th, he hit a sand wedge to 13 feet and three-putted for a bogey six.
Other than the three-putt at the last, Donald was near perfect, particularly with his iron play, hitting 15 of 18 greens, and his putting, only 26 for the round.
At times, Donald was spectacular, chipping in on the 17th hole and nearly holing a sand wedge for eagle at the par-five 14th.
Maybe it is the northern California weather that has helped Donald feel so at ease.
With temperatures in the 50s and wet conditions, Donald said Pebble Beach reminded him of his native England.
Fiji's Singh tacked a second-round 68 at Spyglass Hill onto an opening-round 67 at Poppy Hills.
Unlike Donald, "nice" is a not a word he would use to describe the bumpy greens this week on the Monterey Peninsula.
Despite his concerns, Singh has putted well in the two rounds, needing 29 putts on Thursday and 27 on Friday.
An the FBR Open last week, Singh finished in the top 10 for the 11th consecutive time, dating back to the WGC-NEC Invitational in August 2003.
Jack Nicklaus set the PGA Tour record of 14 straight in 1977.
With two rounds for Singh remaining at Pebble Beach, which has not been playing nearly as difficult as it can, the Fijian could take another step toward Nicklaus' mark.
Second round scores:
134 Luke Donald (Britain) 69 65
135 Tom Pernice Jr. 67 68, J.J. Henry 65 70, Ken Duke 67 68, Vijay Singh (Fiji) 67 68 136 Arron Oberholser 69 67, Robert Gamez 67 69, Phil Mickelson 68 68 137 Mark Hensby (Australia) 70 67, Jesper Parnevik (Sweden) 70 67, Phillip Price (Britain) 67 70, Corey Pavin 69 68, K.J. Choi (South Korea) 67 70, Dennis Paulson 69 68, Scott McCarron 69 68 138 Joe Ogilvie 71 67, Patrick Sheehan 71 67, Kent Jones 67 71 139 Matt Kuchar 65 74, Jeff Maggert 71 68, Steve Friesen 69 70, Jay Delsing 73 66, Tom Lehman 70 69, Kevin Sutherland 70 69, Kirk Triplett 69 70, Craig Stadler 68 71, John Senden (Australia) 71 68
Other international scores:
140 Niclas Fasth (Sweden) 69 71
141 Deane Pappas (South Africa) 68 73, Greg Chalmers (Australia) 71 70
142 Arjun Atwal (India) 72 70, Daniel Chopra (Sweden) 71 71
143 Mathias Gronberg (Sweden) 73 70, Mike Weir (Canada) 73 70, Carl Pettersson (Sweden) 69 74, Brian Watts (Canada) 72 71 144 Grant Waite (New Zealand) 70 74, Per-Ulrick Johansson (Sweden) 73 71, Paul McGinley (Ireland) 73 71, Steve Elkington (Australia) 72 72.-Reuters