PALM HARBOR, United States : Mark Calcavecchia tied the course record to vault into a share of the third-round lead alongside Heath Slocum at the 5.3 million-dollar Pods Championship on Saturday.

Calcavecchia nabbed 10 birdies, including a 20-foot downhill birdie at the 18th for a 9-under-par 62 and a total of 204.

"I felt the best today physically that I felt all week, and really had an inkling I was going to play pretty well after the second hole," said Calcavecchia, whose 28-under 256 total at the 2001 Phoenix Open is the second-lowest 72-hole score in PGA Tour history.

It was the day's best score by four shots, and by time the overnight leaders finished some three hours later, only Slocum (67) had caught Calcavecchia. Slocum also birdied the last to claim his share of the lead.

Calcavecchia and Slocum were one shot ahead of defending champion K.J. Choi (67).

Brian Gay, Lucas Glover, Chris DiMarco and Pat Perez are three shots off the pace.

A former British Open champion, Calcavecchia, 46, had his bags packed ready for an early getaway after an opening-round 75, during which he needed 36 putts.

However, he found his touch on the greens on Friday, needing just 23 putts, and he had another 23 on Saturday.

Five birdies in the first six holes set the tone for the day, and a bogey at the par-three eighth proved just a temporary hiccup as he added five more birdies on the back nine. His birdie at the last came after an errant tee shot left him in a fairway bunker, from where he hooked a 7-iron around a clump of trees to the heart of the green.

"I knew I wasn't going to hit too many bad shots, based on the way I felt, and the way my putter felt again," Calcavecchia said. "I certainly didn't know I was going to do this, so it's a nice surprise."

Calcavecchia said a new putter that he bought at a golf equipment store for 256 dollars last week had made the difference.

"I had 36 putts (Thursday). We all go through stretches where you can't hit the hole from outside about two feet and I was in that mode.

It wasn't just the new putter that Calcavecchia put into the bag for the second round that caused his transformation. He also "figured out" something with his grip, loosened his right hand and immediately reaped the benefits.

"I was in a major putting slump. Last week, anything outside of 18 inches, I was probably going to have a good chance to miss it," Calcavecchia said.

Calcavecchia knows he's at an age where he probably won't get too many more chances to win on the PGA Tour, and he certainly hopes Sunday will be lucky No. 13.

"The older you get, the harder it gets," he said. "Chances aren't as readily available as they used to be for me, so I'm sure I will be nervous tomorrow, just like everybody."

- AFP/ir