HUMBLE, Texas -- Stuart Appleby remained in position to join Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as the only two-time winners on the PGA TOUR this year, shooting a 3-under 69 to take a two-stroke lead in the Shell Houston Open on Saturday.

Appleby had five birdies in his third straight sub-70 round at The Tournament Course at Redstone to finish at 14 under. The Australian bogeyed the difficult 18th, a hole he birdied at the end of a 66 in the first round.

Sweden's Mathias Gronberg birdied the 18th for a 67 and a 12-under total. Jerry Smith (69) and Bob Estes (66) were four shots back at 10 under.

"There's a lot of golf, 25 percent of the tournament still left out there," Appleby said. "I might be leading - but that only means that I'm leading."

He won the season-opening Mercedes Championships at Kapalua for the third straight year and felt a similar level of confidence this week.

"There's a feeling. It's a confident feeling that you like the way your game feels," Appleby said. "Most of the time, all the Kapaluas, I've come in, I've liked the way I've played and putted. Kapalua has bred confidence in me. There's a theme there."

Appleby was one of 44 players who finished the rain-delayed second round on Saturday morning. He parred his two remaining holes for a 67 to finish at 11 under, then opened his third round with three straight pars. For his standing as 54-hole leader, Appleby earned recognition as this week's recipient of the AstraZeneca Charity Challenge.

Appleby kick-started his day with a short birdie putt on the par-5 fourth. He chipped in over a ridge for another birdie at No. 6 and made a 30-footer on No. 7 to move to 14 under.

Greg Owen, who shot a tournament-low 65 on Friday, played with Appleby and birdied the first hole to tie for the lead. Owen promptly bogeyed No. 2, starting the downward spiral to a 75.

With Owen fading, Brett Wetterich was the next to mount a charge at Appleby with four straight birdies on the front nine. But Wetterich dunked his tee shot in the water on the 18th and shot a 69 to finish at 8 under.

Gronberg opened with seven pars, then started a run of five birdies in six holes on the par-5 eighth. He dropped to 11 under with a bogey at 17, then got the shot back with a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th.

Gronberg stayed oblivious to what Appleby was doing all day.

"I never saw the top of the leaderboard," Gronberg said. "I looked a little bit, I didn't look too much. I never saw his score for the whole 18 holes."

Smith birdied both par 5s on the back nine.

Estes, who turned 40 in February, was 6 under at the turn, then made three straight birdies on 11, 12 and 13. He also birdied the par-5 15th to reach 10 under and saved par at the tough 17th with a pitch from the side of the green.

Stuart Appleby made five birdies on Saturday. (Feldman/WireImage)

"That's probably the best shot I hit all day," said Estes, an 18-year tour veteran who hasn't won since 2002. "All I was trying to do was get it anywhere on the green."

Two-time champion Vijay Singh fell to 1 under after a 75. Singh hasn't won in 17 starts, his longest drought since 2002.

Former U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen hit two shots in the water and a tee shot into a marsh during a 7-8 stretch on the front nine. Janzen shot a 77.

Appleby has hit 30 of 42 fairways and 42 of 54 greens in regulation through three rounds.

Appleby, who won the tournament in 1999, is trying to earn the sixth victory in Houston by an Australian. Robert Allenby, David Graham, Bruce Crampton and Bruce Devlin are also past champions.

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