Gary Newkirk / Tiger Woods Foundation
Johnson celebrates after an eagle on the last hole.
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- When Zach Johnson stood over his second shot at the par-4 18th hole on Saturday at Sherwood Country Club, he figured he was somewhere near the lead. One swing later, he had sole possession of first place in the Chevron World Challenge.
Johnson holed out a 7-iron from 163 yards for an eagle to leap-frog four-time winner Tiger Woods. He has a 54-hole score of 8-under 208, one shot ahead of Woods and three better than K.J. Choi heading to Sunday's final round.
"I hit a good shot, I mean one of those when it left my club I thought it was pretty good," Johnson said. Woods, who entered the third round with a three-stroke cushion over Choi and Matt Kuchar, struggled to a 73. He bogeyed three of the five par-5s and three-putted twice on the cold, breezy day.
"I gave away a ton of shots and consequently I lost the lead," said Woods.
Johnson, a seven-time winner on the PGA Tour, has played well in this event. He was runner-up in his first appearance in 2007 and tied for fifth in 2009 and tied for ninth last year.
He opened third round play with 10 consecutive pars before eagling the par-5 11th hole. Johnson followed with a birdie at the par-3 12th and another birdie at the par-5 13th.
Johnson stumbled with bogeys at the par-5 16th and par-3 17th holes, setting the stage for his final-hole heroics.
"Today wasn't easy," he said of the conditions. "I didn't think this was in the forecast."
That didn't prevent a large gallery from turning out, the majority following Woods. Last year, he took a four-stroke lead into the final round, then lost to Graeme McDowell on the first hole of a sudden death playoff.
Johnson and Woods will be paired in the final twosome on Sunday.
"I'm right there with a chance going into tomorrow," said Woods.
