Luke Guthrie and Michael Thompson lead Honda

Published on 04/03/2013 00:00

UNFANCIED Americans Luke Guthrie and Michael Thompson held the lead at eight-under after the Honda Classic third round but England’s Lee Westwood and Australian Geoff Ogilvy were just two back.

American Rickie Fowler finished with a birdie and an eagle to push himself within three shots of the lead, alongside Charles Howell III, but Tiger Woods was tied in 32nd place, eight strokes behind the leading duo, after a third straight round of 70.

Strong winds made low scores difficult. Guthrie began the day on nine-under par and shot a one-over 71 but remained with a share of the lead as only three of the top ten players on the leaderboard broke par.

Westwood recovered from a shaky middle of his round to sign for a 70.