Woodland joins Kuchar in lead at Barclays

Jersey City, NJ – Gary Woodland carded a 3-under 68 on Saturday to join Matt Kuchar in the lead after three rounds at The Barclays.

Kuchar, who led by two after two rounds, posted a 1-under 70 in round three. The duo ended 54 holes at 12-under-par 201.

The second round was completed earlier Saturday, and the tournament is back on schedule after a pair of lengthy weather delays on Thursday.

Kevin Chappell fired a course-record, 9-under 62 in the third round to jump into third place at minus-11.

Tiger Woods fought through a stiff back en route to a 2-under 69. David Lynn also posted a 69 in round three and joined Woods in a share of fourth at 8- under 205.

Woods had two birdies and three bogeys on his front nine. He closed with three birdies in the last six holes to end in share of fourth.

"It starts off great every day, and then it progressively deteriorates as the day goes on. Hopefully tomorrow it will be one of those days again and fight through it and see if I can win a tournament," stated Woods about his back. "Unfortunately, I had two 3-putts, but other than that, I felt like I really putted well and made my share of putts."

Defending champion Nick Watney shares 13th place at minus-6 after shooting 69 in round three.

Woodland parred his first five holes before catching fire. He rolled in an 11- footer for birdie at the sixth and followed with a 10-foot birdie putt at seven.

The Reno-Tahoe winner got up and down from a greenside bunker for birdie on the par-5 eighth. Woodland made it four in row on the ninth, where he knocked in a 6-foot putt.

Woodland made turn at 13-under, but trouble loomed. He missed the green at the par-3 11th and chipped to seven feet. He failed to make his par putt, then missed the 12th green as well and that led to another bogey.

The 29-year-old, who also won the 2011 Transitions Championship, bounced back with a short birdie putt on the 13th. At the short par-4 16th, Woodland pitched his second shot inside six feet and he converted that birdie putt to return to 13-under.

However, Woodland's tee shot on the 17th plugged in the face of a fairway bunker and that led to bogey, which dropped him into a share of the lead.

"I played pretty solid today. I got off to a solid start. Drove the ball beautifully all day, and you know, finally I got some putts to go in," Woodland said. "I missed some putts early, but from six on, I made four in a row. I got some putts to go in and kind of gave myself confidence the rest of the day."

Kuchar, the 2010 champion, struggled on the front nine of round three. He missed the green at the third and walked off with a bogey. He drove into a fairway bunker at No. 7 and that led to a second bogey, which dropped him to minus-9.

The 35-year-old started to move back towards the top of the leaderboard with a 3-foot birdie putt at the 10th.

Kuchar pitched his third at the par-5 13th within inches of the hole. After that kick-in birdie, he rolled in an 8-footer for birdie the 14th. Kuchar closed with four straight pars to share the lead.

"On the front side, I felt like there were a couple unlucky breaks, like where my tee shot ended on three with a crazy side hill lie and a wedge in my hand was just a tough shot that I didn't pull of that well," Kuchar admitted. "To get that birdie on 10, it kick-started the back nine."

Chappell played the back nine first as players went off the first and 10th in the third round to get the tournament back on schedule. He started with a birdie on the 10th, then notched back-to-back birdies at 16 and 17.

On the front nine, Chappell flew up the leaderboard with five birdies in the first six holes. He birdied the eighth, then parred the ninth to end one back.

NOTES: Kuchar has six PGA Tour wins, while Woodland has two ... Kuchar has had at least a piece of the 54-hole lead three times on the PGA Tour, and has won two of those three events ... Woodland had a piece of the 54-hole lead for the second time in his career, but for the first time in a 72-hole event. He was atop the leaderboard at the 2011 Bob Hope Classic, which was a 90-hole tournament ... K.J. Choi and Greg Chalmers both aced the par-3 14th, and they did so in back-to-back groups with Choi making his first.