K.J. Choi's 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole curled in the left side of the cup and made him the outright leader Saturday in the Chrysler Championship, and that was about all it decided.

One shot behind was Ernie Els, playing well and determined to win for the first time this year, and the first time on U.S. soil since he captured the Memorial in 2004.

Then there was Paul Goydos, who is trying to turn Innisbrook into a storybook finish. He is 160th on the money list and thought it would be a long shot to avoid a trip to Q-school, but a birdie on the 18th hole for the third straight day put him one stroke behind and wondering if he can win for the first time in 10 years.

Also one shot back was Brian Gay, who is 0-for-255 in his eight years on the PGA Tour.

And not to be forgotten is the hottest player on the PGA Tour _ Troy Matteson _ who started the day eight shots out of the lead, played his first five holes in 5 under and wound up with a 64 that ultimately left him two shots behind.

``You can't count anybody out in this game,'' said Els, who matched Choi with a 1-under 70. ``It's golf. Everybody has a fair chance.''

Mike Weir of Bright's Grove, Ont., had a strong third round firing a 3-under to move up 13 places into a tie for ninth, five strokes behind Choi.

If the final round is anything like Saturday, it could be up in the air until the very end. Choi was among six players who had at least a share of the lead in the third round, when just about everyone tried to hang on with gusty winds on a Copperhead course that is demanding even in calm conditions.

Choi never made more than three pars in a row, and that was on the back nine after birdie-bogey-birdie stretch. He was at 9-under 204, with a good opportunity to win the tournament for the second time in five tries.

``Everybody is trying to win tomorrow,'' Choi said. ``Every hole, patience.''

There was perhaps too much patience in the final threesome Saturday of Choi, Els and Jonathan Byrd. They were told they were behind on the eighth hole, then put on the clock on the 11th hole after falling well behind the group in front.

``I like playing fast, so I don't mind us getting on the clock,'' Els said. ``But it's still a little uncomfortable.''

That's about the time Byrd fell apart.

He had a one-shot lead through 11 holes when he came up short of the 12th green and took bogey, then came undone on the par-3 13th. After nearly hitting into the water, Byrd's first wedge from mangled rough moved only about 5 feet, and his next one didn't quite reach the green. He finally had to make a 5-footer to escape with double bogey, and he tumbled down the leaderboard.

Byrd wound up with a 73 and was four shots behind.

After consecutive bogeys around the turn left him three shots behind, he hung his head after trying to pound a 4-iron that came up well short into a bunker on the par-5 11th. But he blasted out some 35 yards to three feet for birdie, picked up another birdie on the par-5 14th and came in at 70, leaving him one shot behind.

Gay had a 70 and will play in the final group with Choi.

The surprise might be Goydos, who has struggled to put four rounds together and now is the only guy at Innisbrook with three straight rounds in the 60s. That was courtesy of a 35-foot birdie putt on the 18th _ his third straight birdie on that hole _ for a 69.

``I'm there for a reason,'' Goydos said of being No. 160 on the money list. ``Tiger (Woods) seems to put four good months together. I struggle to put together four good rounds.''

But he has refreshing perspective on the PGA Tour, one who doesn't make any excuses. Even after dropping two shots over his first six holes, Goydos figured everyone else was struggling, too, and didn't lose hope. He shot 32 on the back nine, and now has a chance to not only avoid Q-school _ he needs to finish alone in fourth or better _ but to win for the first time since the '96 Bay Hill Invitational.

``All 350 events I've played, I've pretty much had the same goal,'' Goydos said. ``It just hasn't worked out.''

Matteson was among those who had a share of the lead, even if it didn't last long. He had no idea he would have such a good chance to win when he teed off Saturday.

``It's a little odd, just with this golf course,'' Matteson said. ``It's just very hard to get more than two, three, four shots at a time. To shoot a round like that, and the conditions the way they are, it's got to be one of my best rounds of the year.''

It was an amazing start, no doubt.

He birdied his first two holes, chipping in on No. 2, then hit 6-iron into eight feet for birdie on the par-3 fourth. With the wind at his back, Matteson reached the 599-yard fifth hole, the ball rolling between bunkers and stopping 10 feet away for eagle. He was steady after that until picking up a few birdies on the back nine, the ending with a bit of a fluke.

``Out of the bunker, under the tree,'' he said. ``I just stole one from the field there.''

He barely got it on the green, then holed a 30-foot birdie putt for the best round of the day by three shots, and a chance to pick up his second victory during his incredible fall finish.

Just more than a month ago, Matteson was thinking he might have to go through two stages of Q-school. Then he went on his tear with four straight top 10s, including a win at Las Vegas and a runner-up finish at Disney.

``It's nice to be up there close, to not have to make up a lot of ground,'' Matteson said.

© The Canadian Press, 2007