He limited the damage to one dropped shot, getting up and down from 40 yards, but his mistake left Sabbatini alone in front with one round left.

“Eighteen, you get it in the fairway it’s a pretty benign hole, but if you don’t, you’re going to pay the price,” said Woods, who finished in near darkness, the result of a two-hour morning weather delay.

Woods said he could not see the line on his six-footer at the last, but he made it all the same.

“I was kind of guessing on that one,” he continued. “I knew it was left to right, but I didn’t know how much.”

Sabbatini was one of the few players in the final groups not to have trouble at the last, finishing with a fine 20-foot birdie to tie the Quail Hollow course record with a bogey-free eight-under-par 64 in intermittent rain.

He posted an 11-under 205 total, one shot better than Woods (68), with Vijay Singh (69) and Arron Oberholser (69) two behind.

Woods was not the only player to have trouble at the last in the wet conditions. Singh discarded his shoes and socks to play his second shot from the hazard, eventually making bogey, while Oberholser dropped two shots after finding the water with his second shot.

And Phil Mickelson rinsed his ball as well, also making double bogey to fall four shots off the pace.

Sabbatini’s lead should come as no surprise. He tied for third at last week’s Byron Nelson Championship, and last month tied for second at the Masters, where he led for part of the final round.

He made a dream start, with an eagle from 80 yards at the first hole, where his ball spun back into the hole.

“That was obviously a great way to get the ball going,” said the 31-year-old South African, who attended the University of Arizona.

“I managed to get the ball in play, and the rain slowing the greens up just a touch made it a little easier to be a little aggressive with the putter.”

Sabbatini believes he has something to prove, because he does not think he received sufficient credit for winning last year’s Nissan Open.

“Some people said that Tiger had withdrawn because he was sick. He’s here this week (and it is the) best opportunity I’ve had to put any of that criticism or doubt aside.”

And he will not have to wonder what Woods is doing because they will play together in the final pairing.

Sabbatini credits his recent hot form to his “body functioning properly” after some recent work with a physical therapist.

He did not make the greatest start this week, but an adjustment on the 15th tee during the second round seems to have worked wonders.

“I looked at my posture and realised I had my hands too high,” he said. “So I dropped my hands down a little lower and got my arms to hang down more, and it just corrected everything. It just felt so much better.”

As for Woods, he was delighted to make that putt at the last to get into the final pairing.

“I know Rory is playing well right now, and I’m going to have to make some birdies,” he said. “It’s nice to be in the last group, to see what’s going on.”