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By T.J. Auclair
PGATOUR.com Interactive Producer

ATLANTA -- Just when it looked like there might be a Sunday shootout in the final round of THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, Tiger Woods got loose and made it clear that the only way he's losing the tournament and PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup's $10 million top prize is if he decides to call in sick.

Don't count on it.

Tiger Woods is one round away from breaking a decade-long winless streak at East Lake. (Streeter Lecka/WireImage)

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

TIGER WOODS THRU 54 HOLES

Category Total Rank Eagles 1 T5 Birdies 22 1 Pars 26 30 Bogeys 5 T16 Double Bogeys 0 N/A Other 0 N/A Driving Accuracy 57.1% T15 Driving Distance 295.7 yds. T4 Greens in Regulation 81.5% T5 Putts per Round 26.7 2 Putts per GIR 1.500 1 Sand Saves 60.0% T16

• Tiger Woods' Player Page

Magnificent, awesome, super, otherworldly, spectacular, amazing -- pick a superlative, because all of them apply to Woods lately. With his second 6-under 64 of the week at a sunny East Lake on Saturday, Woods moved to 19-under-par 191 and will take a cushy three-shot lead over gritty veteran Mark Calcavecchia, who shot 63, into the final round. Sergio Garcia is five back, while Masters champion Zach Johnson fired a course-record 10-under-par 60 to get to 13 under and trail by six.

"Another day where if you made a bunch of pars you were going to get run over, so it was nice to make some birdies and get out there and still maintain the same sized lead I had starting out the day," said Woods, who has compiled his lowest 54-hole total. "You see the rounds today, 60, 62, and guys were taking it deep. I was hoping that I could make some birdies myself and basically shoot something in the mid 60s."

Even with a lipped-out birdie putt from seven feet on No. 18, Woods was able to do just that.

It wasn't exactly smooth sailing all day, though. As Woods said, any player who made a bunch of pars was going to get run over. Even after an outward 2-under-par 33, Woods was still in a fight for the lead.

Calcavecchia, one of Woods' closest friends on TOUR and at 47 years old, the eldest player in this week's field, holed an 18-foot putt for eagle at the par-5 15th hole to grab a share of the lead at 17 under. But it didn't last long.

Just as quickly as Calcavecchia tied for the lead, Woods took it back with three consecutive birdies beginning on No. 14. When Calcavecchia made bogey at No. 16, Woods parred his final two holes to maintain the three-shot advantage he started the day with.

"That's a pretty big hill to climb," said Calcavecchia, winner of the PODS Championship earlier this season, alluding to Woods' lead. "If he was hitting a few foul balls it might help, but every time I turned around he was about 40 yards ahead of Woody Austin in the fairway. So it's pretty hard to screw up with a pitching wedge into every par 4 and reaching every par 5 easily.

"You never know. Even if I got off to a great start, say I was 4 or 5 under on the front nine, would that make a difference to him? Probably not. I don't see him shooting worse than 65 tomorrow. But you never know," he added. "It's going to be a nice day. It's not like the wind is going to be blowing 50 miles an hour or something goofy is going to happen. I'm going to have to have another day like today to have any sort of chance."

Calcavecchia might be right on with his prediction of Woods shooting no worse than 65 on Sunday. In his last 10 rounds, Woods' worst score is a 67 and his scoring average has been an eye-popping 65.1.

"When you get greens this soft and pins this easy and greens this slow, you're going to have to make a bunch of birdies because if you've got a tight pin, if you hit a bad shot or are too conservative, more than likely you're going to have a two putt," Woods said. "This week you short-side yourself you've still got 8, 9, 10, 12 paces from the side to think about making it. Or a bad shot in the center of the green normally would be try and two putt, but now I can try to make it because you're not that far away. You fire at every flag. Even if you have a 5 iron you still fire at it because you know the ball is going to plug. You just go after it."

So is this the easiest course Woods has ever played?

"I can't remember too many golf courses that have been easier than this one," he admitted.

East Lake is one of the few courses on TOUR where Woods hasn't won. This is his 11th start here. The only other course where he's made more starts and failed to win is at Riviera.

Aside from the FedExCup and THE TOUR Championship trophies, a win on Sunday would be redemption for Woods. He is a stunning 40-3 with a 54-hole lead, but ironically, two of those failed attempts have come on this very course, in this very tournament.

"If I lose the tournament and win the FedExCup, I don't think I'm going to be too happy really that I've lost the tournament," Woods said.