PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) – Arron Oberholser says he is a changed man. He put himself in position Saturday for a far different result at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Oberholser sailed along at Pebble Beach on a cool, breezy afternoon with a 6-under 66 that gave him a share of the lead with former Masters champion Mike Weir and a chance to redeem himself. Two years ago, Oberholser was tied for the lead with Vijay Singh going into the final round and shot 76.

Oberholser built his lead with a 20-foot birdie on the par-3 seventh that juts into the Pacific, then hit a 5-iron over the cliff to 25 feet below the cup for a birdie on No. 8.

Weir played at Spyglass Hill, where light fog sifted across fairways and made the temperatures feel even cooler. He overcame a sluggish start and settled himself with a par save from a bunker on No. 6, then played bogey-free the rest of the way and finished with a birdie for a 69.

They were at 17-under 199, six shots clear of Luke Donald, who had a 71 at Poppy Hills.

Oberholser never had a chance two years ago playing head-to-head with Singh, who won the first of his nine PGA Tour events in 2004 and rose to No. 1 in the world. Oberholser recalls getting wrapped up in the amazing shots hit by Singh and losing sight of his own game.

That seems like a lifetime ago.

“I’m a little wiser, obviously a little older, more experience, and I’m really starting to not sweat the small stuff,” Oberholser said, referring to his collapse in 2004. “Those days are behind me.”

What lies ahead is a great chance to win for the first time on the PGA Tour, and he could not think of a better place. Oberholser considers Pebble Beach to be his hometown event, having grown up in San Mateo about two hours up the road and playing college golf at San Jose State.

On a day when comedian Bill Murray tackled a TV cameraman and tied him up with cables, and other celebrities drew most of the attention at Pebble Beach, Oberholser had his own group of fans who cheered a familiar face who has been playing on the Monterey Peninsula since he was a kid.

Still, the memory that sticks out his 2004.

Singh hooked his first three drives and still managed birdies, easily pulling away from Oberholser.

“I was a deer in the headlights two years ago,” Oberholser said. “I couldn’t find any rhythm at all. I was too busy paying attention to him and not enough to what I was doing. And I wasn’t enjoying the day.”

Time has taught him plenty. He no longer loses his temper with a bogey or a bad break, such as walking down the first fairway Saturday – his 10th hole – to find a clump of mud on his ball. The shot sailed to the left and he made bogey, then he had to wait 20 minutes on the next tee and hit a pedestrian drive.

No sweat.

Oberholser fired a 5-wood into 18 feet and two-putted for birdie, then hit a sand wedge into 5 feet on the next hole and was on his way to a share of the 54-hole lead.

Weir doesn’t quite have the presence of Singh, although the former Masters champion is no pushover. He has a major, a World Golf Championship and the Tour Championship among his seven victories. And coming off a poor season in 2005, he appears poised to turn it around quickly this year.

Donald, who opened with a record-tying 62 at Spyglass, continued to sputter and left himself six shots behind.

Phil Mickelson ended a dubious streak at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, where the last four defending champions have missed the cut. He was on the cut line when he started Saturday, but flirted with getting into contention when he birdied the most daunting stretch at Pebble – Nos. 8, 9 and 10 along the ocean.

Lefty took bogey on the 16th by hitting his driver behind a tree he didn’t know was there and finishing with a 67, which left him nine shots out of the lead.

“Winning is a little far-fetched,” Mickelson said. “I’m certainly going to try to do the same thing I did today, get off to a hot start, make a bunch of birdies and try to make some kind of a run.”

He has been in tournaments where it looks to be a two-man race only to have someone come out of the pack with a low score, although he conceded it was unlikely.

Weir and Oberholser were the only two players to break 70 all three days.

Divots: Murray was penalized two shots for being late to the first tee. Players are required to be on the tee when their group is announced, and the starter saw him through the hedges on the putting green. Murray was scrambling to get to the tee, then stopped when he realized Jeff Sluman was in his backswing. … Jesper Parnevik missed the cut, leaving him no chance of breaking into the top 65 to qualifying for the Accenture Match Play Championship in two weeks. This is the cutoff for qualifying. Depending how far Parnevik (No. 66) slips in the ranking, his only other chance is if several players withdraw. Sergio Garcia is the only player who has said he is not coming. … Kevin Hall, a former Big Ten champion from Ohio State who has been deaf since age 2, shot 80 at Spyglass Hill and missed the cut. He was playing on a sponsor’s exemption.

AP-ES-02-11-06 1948EST