By The Associated Press

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Another gusty day at the Honda Classic made the golfers’ loud trousers ripple. Geoff Ogilvy kept calm in the wind, fortified by winning his first PGA Tour title just two weeks ago.

The Australian mounted a charge in difficult conditions Saturday, erasing an eight-shot deficit to tie Brett Wetterich for the lead after three rounds. While none of the players among the top eight at the start of the day broke par, Ogilvy shot an 8-under 64 to reach 12 under after 54 holes.

“I just kept hitting nice shots and getting good putts,” he said. “Maybe six months ago, sneaking right up the leaderboard deep on Saturday, I might have gotten a bit more nervous than I did. I was nothing but comfortable.”

Ogilvy won at Tucson, his first title in 108 tour starts, then took last week off.

“Everyone congratulating you on your first week back is quite nice,” he said. “You don’t get tired of that. … There’s a big psychological boost to winning a tournament. It makes you believe you’re a better player, I think.”

Five golfers among the top 10 on the leaderboard will bid for their first tour title today. That includes Wetterich, who began the third round alone in the lead, scrambled to a 72 and joined Ogilvy at 204.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen three-putted No. 18 for a bogey to fall out of a three-way tie for the lead. A round of 72 left him 11 under and tied with Pat Perez.

“At the start of the week, all you want to do is have a chance on Sunday,” Janzen said. He’s seeking his first title since winning the Open in 1998.

Perez, a fourth-year tour veteran seeking his first win, shot 67.

With gusty conditions and the elevated greens firmer than in the first two rounds, bogeys became more frequent on the long Country Club at Mirasol course. But the wind it failed to faze Ogilvy.

Shrugging off a first-round 73, he began to surge Saturday when he birdied four of the first six holes. He also finished with a flourish, sinking birdie putts on Nos. 17 and 18. Ogilvy missed only three greens and needed just 26 putts.

Two shots behind was American Joe Ogilvie, who reached 10 under with a 67 and was poised to create considerable confusion in the final round.

“We very regularly get each other’s stuff in our lockers,” leader Ogilvy said of the fifth-place Ogilvie. “He has probably been congratulated a few times this week for winning in Tucson, because I’ve been congratulated when he plays well. It’s a bit of a running joke between us. We have a law firm: Ogilvy and Ogilvie.”

Stenson shoots 66 for two-stroke lead

DOHA, Qatar – Henrik Stenson of Sweden shot a 6-under 66 on Saturday in the Qatar Masters to take a two-stroke lead over Niclas Fasth and Richard Green, while Ernie Els was five strokes behind.

Fasth of Sweden carded a 69 in the third round and Green of Australia had a 73 at the 7,311-yard Doha Golf Club. Els, the only top-50 player in the event, posted a second straight 69.

“That’s the best I have played all week,” said Els, who shot a first-round 73. “The flags are difficult. They’ve got them in a lot of corners, difficult places and it’s hard to make birdies. I think it’s almost impossible to go very low here.”

Stenson, who is based in nearby Dubai, had five birdies on the back nine to take the lead with a three-day total of 10-under 206.

Fergus makes six birdies to take lead at SBC

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – Keith Fergus shot a 7-under 65 Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over Mark McNulty after two rounds of the Champions Tour’s SBC Classic.

Fergus, a former golf coach at Houston and three-time winner in 14 years on the PGA Tour, had six birdies and a bogey on the Valencia Country Club course for a 7-under 137 total.

McNulty shot a 66 to move to 138, two strokes ahead of Gary McCord (66) and D.A. Weibring (69). Mike Reid was in fifth place at 141 after a second-round 71, and 62-year-old Isao Aoki, the first-round leader, followed an opening 69 with a 73, dropping to 142.

“It was fun out there today,” said the 51-year-old Fergus, who coached at Houston from 1988-94. “I love this course. I like the rough and I like that they don’t shoot a lot of low scores. It’s a course where you have to be precise to score well.”

Fergus birdied the first hole, but made bogey at the fourth. He added a birdie at the fifth and picked up two more strokes with consecutive birdies at Nos. 9-10. After missing a six-foot birdie try at the 10th, he went on to make birdies at Nos. 11, 12, 15 and 16.

“I just wish I had finished with a birdie on that last hole,” Fergus said.

“But overall, I was very happy with the way I played.”