GOLF ROUNDUP : Singh Uses Putter to Take Lead

Vijay Singh turned a hot putting streak into a four-under-par 68 and a one-stroke lead Saturday in the third round of the Nestle Invitational at Orlando, Fla..

“I didn’t like the way I started, but I got the putter going later,” the native of the Fiji Islands said after completing three rounds over Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club in 205, 11-under par.

Nine others led or shared the lead before Singh took control with three consecutive birdies beginning with a 25-foot putt on the 13th.

Seven of them are still within three strokes of the lead going into today’s final round.

Singh’s primary challengers are Nick Price, Tom Watson and Andrew Magee, who are tied for second.

Watson, trying to break a seven-season non-winning string, shot a 67. Price, who last week scored his 12th worldwide victory in 18 months, shot 68 despite a double bogey. Magee had a 69.

Singh, 31, played four seasons in Europe before starting his American tour career with a runner-up finish in this tournament a year ago.

He went on to a victory in the Buick Classic in suburban New York and won rookie-of-the-year honors with $657,831 in earnings.

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Laura Davies shot a seven-under-par 66 to pass eight players and take the third-round lead at the Standard Register Ping tournament at Phoenix.

On a course suited to power--the 6,483-yard Moon Valley Country Club is the longest on the LPGA tour--Davies used a deft short game to save par and maintain a one-shot lead over Elaine Crosby.

Playing in a threesome with Davies and Val Skinner, Crosby also shot 66. She started a shot behind and wound up with a 54-hole total of 208.