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SHANGHAI : Phil Mickelson birdied the last hole on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead over Tiger Woods and Nick Watney at the HSBC Champions, setting up an enticing finale in the World Golf Championship event.
The world number two stroked a 67 to be 14 under for the tournament on 202, with Woods and Watney, the joint second-round leaders, breathing down his neck after firing 70s.
Fellow American Ryan Moore is fourth, three off the lead, while England's Lee Westwood is a shot further back after a best-of-the-day 65.
The Ryder Cup ace leads the Race to Dubai -- the European money list -- with two events to go -- the Hong Kong Open next week and the Dubai World Championship.
Just behind him is India's Jyoti Randhawa and American Anthony Kim with South Africa's Ernie Els and a group of three others another shot adrift.
Mickelson beat Woods at the last tournament they played together, the Tour Championships, and has won here before, in 2007, but Woods is the form World Golf Championship player, having won 16 of the 30 events he has entered.
Under overcast skies and in breezy conditions, Mickelson started the day one shot behind but birdied three of the opening eight holes before dropping a shot on the difficult ninth, where he found the trees.
Another birdie on the 14th kept him at level pegging on top of the scoreboard and when he drilled another on the next hole he was in the outright lead for the first time.
He picked up another shot at the last to give himself a two-shot cushion.
Woods was in the last group out and, followed by massive crowds, grabbed his first birdie of the day on the second when he putted from four feet after a pinpoint approach.
Birdies on the fifth and eighth kept him on track but a drive into the sand at the ninth had him in trouble and he dropped a shot to go to the turn at 12 under.
Woods recovered by picking up a shot on the 10th but hit another bogey on the next before parring the next seven holes.
Elsewhere, defending champion Sergio Garcia recovered from a poor opening round with a 69 to be 12 behind Mickelson but another former winner, Korea's Yang Yong-Eun, struggled with a 75 to be 16 shots adrift.
- AFP
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