Tiger a shot back in Dubai

Tiger Woods is bidding to end his drought in the desert.

The former world No. 1 is one shot off the lead going into today's final round of the Dubai Desert Classic, rallying from a disastrous start with an eagle and three birdies on the back nine for a par 72 in windy conditions yesterday.

"The fact I was able to battle from 4 over par and put myself with a chance going into tomorrow, I'm proud of that," Woods said. "Hopefully, I can build on that."

He finished the third round at 7-under 209, in a seven-way tie for fourth behind co-leaders Rory McIlroy (75), Anders Hansen (71) and Thomas Aiken (74). Woods showed some of the resilience that recently has been lacking from his game on a dusty day in the desert during which the wind reached 28 mph.

After a double bogey at No. 9 left Woods at 4-over 39, he started his surge with an eagle on the par-5 10th and followed with a birdie on No. 11. He closed with birdies on Nos. 15 and 18 sandwiched around a bogey on 16.

"I just had to stay patient," he said. "I made two mistakes with two bad swings at 8 and 9 that cost me four shots right there," said Woods.

Woods is now No. 3 in the world rankings behind Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer. The top-ranked Westwood was tied for 13th at 5-under, while Kaymer was eight shots off the lead after a 76.

Marino leads at Pebble Beach

About the only thing that went right for Steve Marino was staying in the lead at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Away from the commotion of celebrities at Pebble Beach, Marino stumbled around Monterey Peninsula with everything from an eagle to consecutive bogeys. It added to a 1-over 71, giving him a one-shot lead going into the final round.

Bryce Molder, whose hopes last year at Pebble Beach came crashing down with a 9 on the 14th hole, had a 68 at Spyglass Hill. He was a shot back, along with Jimmy Walker, who had a 63 at Monterey. - AP