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Tiger mixed a lot of great shots with bad ones in the third round.
The 33-year-old Woods, who began the third round with a three-stroke cushion, was fortunate to escape the sandbelt course with an even-par 72. Wayward drives and missed putts dogged him from start to finish.
"Just a bad day," a composed but frustrated Woods said afterward. "I didn't really have much. Somehow -- I don't know how -- I turned this round around to shoot even par, because it certainly should have been a lot worse than it is."
Woods, looking for his first victory in Australia, has a 54-hole score of 10-under 206 and is tied with Aussies James Nitties and Greg Chalmers.
Paired with fellow American Jason Dufner on a warm and sometimes breezy afternoon, Woods started well, holing a long birdie putt at the par-4 second. But he dropped a shot at the par-4 third, then scrambled to make the turn in even-par 36.
After a bogey at the par-3 11th, Woods made a nice up-and-down save from the left greenside bunker at the par-4 13th. He regained the lost stroke with a birdie at the par-5 14th.
Woods gave himself two great birdie chances coming in but failed to capitalize. At the par-4 16th, he lipped out a 12-foot birdie putt, the ball horseshoeing around the cup. Woods blasted a big drive at the par-4 18th and knocked his approach just inside 10 feet, but couldn't convert.
"Either I hit a great shot or one of the worst shots you've ever seen," he said. "Or hit a beautiful putt or just an atrocious putt. There was no gray area."
Woods said he warmed up poorly with his driver -- not a good feeling in windy conditions.
"If I let it go, it's going to be a quick snipe [left], like it was on the range," said Woods. "Therefore, I'm going to hold onto it. Even with the irons, I had a two-way miss going. It wasn't very good."
The good news for Woods is that he remains on top. He'll play with Aussie Cameron Percy in the penultimate twosome Sunday.
"I played myself into a chance tomorrow, because I could have easily played myself out of it," Woods said.