PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — After an early bogey that put him eight strokes behind, Tiger Woods was in a bunker to the left of the 13th fairway at Pebble Beach when he cut a 9-iron more than he wanted, sending the shot right of the green toward deep rough.

The ball caromed off a mound and onto the green and started rolling. And rolling. When it finally settled about a foot below the hole, and the gallery's cheers grew increasingly louder, Woods smiled.

He went from a possible bogey to an unlikely birdie.

And with five birdies in a six-hole stretch, Woods went from the periphery of contention to the thick of it Saturday in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, another step toward showing his game is on the way back.

"Looked like I was having a tough time making par, and I was making birdie, and off we go," Woods said. "Sometimes, we need those types of momentum swings in a round, and from there, I made some putts."

If nothing else, he made it interesting going into Sunday's final round of his 2012 PGA Tour debut.

Charlie Wi played bogey-free at Spyglass Hill for a 3-under 69 to build a three-shot lead over second-place Ken Duke, who had a 65 at Monterey Peninsula.

Wi was at 15-under 199. Woods (67) had his best Saturday score on the PGA Tour since the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and was four back. It is the closest Woods, who started on the back nine, has been to a 54-hole leader on the Tour since the 2010 Masters.

South Korean Wi, 40, is winless in 162 previous Tour starts and Duke, 43, is 0 for 142. Woods, 36, has 71 PGA Tour victories.

Wi said, "I'm sure I'll be fighting my demons all day tomorrow and it's how I handle myself tomorrow.

"It's not what other players are doing. How I handle myself tomorrow is going to be the outcome of the tournament."

Woods will be in the same group as Phil Mickelson (70), who was tied for fourth at 205. Mickelson has 39 Tour victories.

"I didn't hit it as well as I did the last two days," Woods said. "But I made some more putts and really managed my game well today. When I missed, I missed in all the right spots."

Ryan Moore (71) of Puyallup was tied for 12th at 7 under and ex-Washington Huskies player Richard H. Lee (73) was tied for 28th at 5 under.

Another former UW Husky, Troy Kelly (77), missed the 54-hole cut.

Other tournaments

• Lee Westwood of England shot a 5-under 67 for a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the Dubai Desert Classic, a European Tour event.

Westwood was at 15-under 201 for 54 holes.

Seattle native Fred Couples (71) was tied for 59th at 2 under.

• Corey Pavin (2-under 70) and Peter Senior (68) — both winless on the 50-and-older Champions Tour — shared the lead after the second round of the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, Fla.

• American Jessica Korda (even-par 73) leads by one after three rounds of the Women's Australian Open at Royal Melbourne. Korda, 18, was at 4-under 215.

U.S. Women's Open champion So Yeon Ryu (76), Hee Kyung Seo (75) and Nikki Campbell (70) were tied for second. Jimin Kang (77), a graduate of King's High in Shoreline, was tied for 53rd at 9 over.