NORTON, Mass. (AP) – Robert Allenby made a hole-in-one during a torrid stretch that took him from the middle of the pack to the top of the leaderboard Saturday, then finished off a 5-under 66 in blustery conditions to catch Justin Rose in the Deutsche Bank Championship.

“Prettiest shot I’ve ever seen,” Paul Azinger said of the ace by Allenby, a 4-iron from 215 yards on the 16th hole.

Rose made birdie on three of the par 3s on his way to a 69.

Tiger Woods is still in the hunt for his fifth straight PGA Tour victory, trailing the leaders by two shots.

After opening with a 66 for a one-shot lead, Woods hit into the trees, through the trees and even hit his club against a tree twice on one swing while making an unlikely par. He one-putted six consecutive greens on his back nine – five of them for par – and managed to scratch out a 1-over 72 that left him two shots behind.

Aaron Baddeley also scrambled his way around in wind that averaged about 15 mph, with gusts that peaked at 31 mph, and shot 71 to join Woods and defending champion Olin Browne (69) at 4-under 138.

The group at 139 included a couple of Ryder Cup players – J.J. Henry and Robert Karlsson of Sweden.

State Farm Classic

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Maria Hjorth closed in on her first LPGA Tour victory in seven years, Cristie Kerr had one bad hole and Annika Sorenstam remained on the fringe of contention.

Hjorth shot a 2-under-par 70 and was 14 under after the third round at The Rail Golf Club, one stroke ahead of Seon-Hwa Lee (69) and Il Mi Chung (70).

Tied for the lead with Hjorth when the day began, Kerr triple-bogeyed the par-3 seventh hole and shot an even 72 to fall into a tie for fourth at 12 under with veteran Nancy Scranton, who fired a career-low 63.

Sorenstam (69), who was six back when the day began, seemed on the verge of falling out of contention before two late birdies put her at 9 under.

Hjorth put herself in good position by shooting a 65 on Thursday and was 12 under heading into the third round.

BMW International Open

MUNICH, Germany (AP) – Defending champion David Howell shot a 6-under-par 66 despite a bogey on the last hole and led by two strokes after three rounds.

Howell, a member of this year’s European Ryder Cup team, was at 14-under 202 in the European tour event. He was followed at 204 by Padraig Harrington (64) and Colin Montgomerie (66), his Ryder Cup teammates, and second-round leader Martin Erlandsson (69).

Henrik Stenson, another Ryder Cup player, and Simon Kahn shot 66 to stand at 205.

AP-ES-09-02-06 2045EDT