Scott, Garcia tie for Honda lead

Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

One bad swing by Adam Scott led to two balls in the water on the same hole Saturday in the Honda Classic. Even with a quadruple bogey, he managed to be satisfied with a 4-under 66 and a share of the lead with Sergio Garcia.

A bizarre and breezy afternoon ended at PGA National with two players whose fortunes changed mightily in the final hour.

Scott looked better than ever, 7 under through 14 holes and only once having to save par. He was three shots ahead going to the tee on the par-3 15th, and it was starting to look like a runaway. Some 20 minutes later, he was one shot behind Garcia.

"Pretty costly," Scott said. "But fortunately, I had a couple shots to spare. Hopefully, it won't cost me too big in the grand scheme of things."

Garcia lost the lead with a bogey from the bunker on the 17th, and caught Scott with a short birdie on the 18th for a 67.

They were at 9-under 201.

Blayne Barber had a 69 and was four shots behind.

Scott and Garcia were quick to point out that Sunday might not be the two-man race, and there was plenty of evidence to back them up.

Rickie Fowler had a one-shot lead going into the third round and was the first player at the Honda Classic to go bogey-free through the opening 36 holes. And then on Saturday, he couldn't make a birdie. Fowler made bogey on the easiest hole at PGA National, the par-5 third, and wound up with a 74 to fall five shots behind.

Nothing went right for Jimmy Walker, starting with the first tee. Playing alongside Fowler, he was introduced as "Jimmy Fowler." Walker had the lead with his birdie on the third hole. He didn't make another birdie until the 18th hole, and that was to break 80.

Walker wound up 11 shots out of the lead. "Who can tell me that the guys that are 4 under are not going to go and play like Adam did today?" Garcia said. "We'll see how the day goes. And then if it becomes a two-horse race on the last three or four holes, I'll welcome that. But I will expect some of the guys behind to shoot a good number and make it tough for all of us."

Thanks to one swing by Scott, those guys at least have a chance.

Justin Thomas opened with three straight birdies and had to settle for a 68, putting him at 4-under 206 with Fowler.

Graeme McDowell had a 67 and was six shots behind at 207 along with Scott Brown and Vijay Singh (68). Singh made a double bogey on the 15th hole, hitting in the bunker or hitting in the rough. His problem was the golf ball hit the putter four times from 20 feet.

LPGA: Lexi Thompson shot an 8-under 64 in the third round of the LPGA Thailand to establish a four-stroke lead over Korean In Gee Chun at Siam Country Club. The fourth-ranked American fired nine birdies — against a lone bogey on the 16th — for an overall 16-under 200. Chun carded three birdies on both the front and back nine for a 6-under 66. Overnight leader and defending champion Amy Yang (70) had five birdies and three bogeys. The South Korean is five shots off the lead.

European PGA: Former British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen shot a 5-under 67 to take a three-stroke lead after three rounds of the Perth International. Oosthuizen, making his first tournament appearance in Australia, had a 54-hole total of 15-under 201. American Peter Uihlein (71) and Romain Wattel of France (65) were tied for second, with Australia's Jason Scrivener another stroke back after a 69.

Ladies European Tour: South Korea's Jiyai Shin shot a 2-under 71 for one of the few sub-par rounds of the day in post-cyclonic winds to take a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the Australian Ladies Masters. Only nine of 75 players shot under-par rounds.