Taylor powers ahead in Bay Hill

Vaughn Taylor recovered from a poor start to jump into the lead after the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.

Taylor stumbled with two early bogeys – but it was all good after that as he roared back with five birdies to post a three-under-par 67 in pleasant conditions in Orlando.

His score moved him to an eight-under 202 total, two strokes ahead of Ben Curtis (69) with Vijay Singh (67) and Tom Lehman (69) three behind.

Yet four-time winner and world number one Tiger Woods (70) was hardly out of contention either, five shots behind in a tie for 10th.

It was not a good day for halfway leader Rocco Mediate, who tumbled down the leaderboard with a 76 that left him level with Woods.

And Paul Casey, who took the lead with three early birdies, also ended the day five behind after a 73.

Taylor, a member of last year’s American Ryder Cup team, has won just twice on the PGA Tour, both times at the Reno-Tahoe Open, a relatively weak event.

The 31-year-old said: “This will be a little different atmosphere (but) any time you win a tournament, you learn from it and draw from those experiences.

“I got off to not the best start, but just hung in there and played pretty solid the rest of the day. Conditions were pretty tough. It was a little cooler, the wind was blowing and everything was faster, fairways and greens.”

Taylor knows, however, that he must overcome his dismal recent record on the Sundays of championships. He may not have dropped a shot on a back nine all year, but his Sunday round average is 74.2.

“I don’t know what’s been going on,” he said. “Last year I played really well on Sundays and got it done. I’m trying to look at it as I’ve got my bad Sundays out of the way already.”

Curtis has made just six career top-10s, but has converted three into victories and was looking good after picking up two birdies on a bogey-free back nine.

“I’m just happy to be in this position,” Curtis said. “Any time you can shoot in the 60s three days in a row, you’ll be happy.”

Lehman, meanwhile, was delighted with the tough conditions.

“The harder the course, the better my chances, I always feel, simply because I can hang in there as well as anybody,” said the 48-year-old captain of last year’s losing Ryder Cup team.

“You have to be real. At my age, there are fewer chances and there’s really nothing to lose. I think the ability to win is still in there. To win would be great, to win a major would be even greater.”

Woods is better at defending a lead than coming from behind – but it would be foolish to write him off.

“I hung in there and gave myself a chance,” said Woods, pleased with his position after after a poor second round and just one birdie and one bogey in the third.

“The way I played yesterday, I really shouldn’t be in the hunt. But the way I played today, I should be right next to the lead. If a couple of those putts go in, it’s a whole different ball game.”

Only three players shot better than 69 on a day when the average score was 72.9 strokes.