Miami: Camilo Villegas emerged from a shaky back nine with a three-stroke lead after shooting a three-under 67 at the third round of The Honda Classic on Saturday.
The in-form Colombian, joint overnight leader with American Anthony Kim, charged out of the blocks with four birdies on the front nine, before stumbling with three bogeys to fall back into the pack at the PGA National Championship course.
Villegas recovered with two birdies, however, to finish with a total of 11-under, three strokes ahead of Fiji's Vijay Singh and Australian Nathan Green.
"Four-under on the front was pretty unbelievable the way it was playing," Villegas told reporters. "And then a couple hiccups there on the back, which is — I mean, you always wish that didn't happen, but it's golf and they happen."
Anthony Kim, who held a one-stroke lead with Villegas overnight, tumbled down the leaderboard with a three-over 73 after a double-bogey on the par-four sixth and three dropped shots from his last three holes.
Villegas is chasing his third PGA Tour title after winning back-to-back tournaments in 2008.
The 28-year-old held firm on the course's most difficult holes, taking a birdie on the 488-yard par-four sixth, where Singh and Kim both had double-bogeys.
Villegas negotiated holes 15 through 17, known as the ‘bear trap', with two pars and a birdie, as Kim stumbled to finish six strokes off the pace.
"I kind of knew what I had to do," he quipped.
