CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Jim Furyk hit a 7-iron that landed softly on the 16th green and trickled within 2 feet of the cup, a birdie that allowed him to get in front Saturday at the Wachovia Championship.

Now comes the finishing stretch on what figures to be a slippery track.

Furyk did just enough on a rain-softened Quail Hollow Club to shoot a 4-under 68, giving him a one-shot lead over South Africans Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman and a good chance to redeem a bitter playoff loss a year ago.

"I'm happy with the way I played," said Furyk, who was at 11-under 205 and was the only player to shoot in the 60s all three days. "I'm happy to be out front at this point. I've got another round of golf tomorrow and I need to attack the golf course again and try to post one more good round."

What defines a good round remains to be seen.

The forecast has so much rain that starting times have been moved up five hours with hopes of finishing. That figures to make Quail Hollow even softer -- and longer -- and create a wide-open race among the 10 players within five shots of the lead.

"I think we all wish it would be nice, hot, sunny and beautiful," Furyk said, who earned recognition as the AstraZeneca Charity Challenge winner for his 54-hole lead. "But it's not going to be, so you adjust."

Some of the scoring was plenty hot in the third round.

Goosen made seven birdies on the back nine and was thrilled to escape with a bogey on the 18th hole after driving into the creek that meanders down the left side of the fairway. That gave him a 65 and left him one shot behind, along with Immelman, who birdied the 18th for a 66.

Bo Van Pelt had a three-shot lead going into the third round, but he opened with a bogey and followed with eight straight pars, eventually settling for a 73 that allowed several players into the mix.

The final group sure supports the notion that Quail Hollow is good enough to host a U.S. Open on short notice. Furyk (2003) and Goosen (2001, 2004) have won three of the last five U.S. Open titles.

Furyk's memory is centered on this tournament.

A year ago, he closed with a 66 to get into a three-man playoff. After Sergio Garcia was quickly eliminated, Furyk twice had good birdie chances to win, then hit into the creek on the 18th as Vijay Singh won with a par.

Furyk's last tournament was at Hilton Head, where he lost a two-shot lead on the back nine to Aaron Baddeley at the Verizon Heritage.

He felt the same way about both losses.

"I'd rather finish second than play poorly, but the goal still is to win golf tournaments," he said. "I'm disappointed that I didn't win, but in this game, you're going to be disappointed a heck of a lot more than you're going to be happy."

Jay Haas was downright thrilled. The 52-year-old played 27 holes -- nine in the morning to complete the rain-delayed second round -- and shot 65 to get within six shots of the lead. He will be playing Sunday in front of his 23-year-old son, Bill Haas, who shot 71 and also was at 5-under 211.

Saturday was all about position, and no one helped himself quite like Goosen.

He was seven shots behind going into the third round and spinning his wheels over the front nine until one shot turned everything. Goosen came up 10 yards short on an 8-iron at No. 11, then chipped in for birdie.

"That really got me going," Goosen said. "From there, I made everything."

He slipped in a 6-foot birdie on the 12th, a 30-footer on the 13th, then started hitting everything close. On the 217-yard 17th with a peninsula green, Goosen hit a high 6-iron that landed softly some 20 feet short of the flag, caught a ridge and stopped 6 feet away for his seventh birdie of the back nine.

That, more than any other shot, showed what Friday afternoon rains had done to Quail Hollow.

"Yesterday ... that would have been over the green," Goosen said.

Adam Scott also had a chance to make a big move, holing out from 109 yards on the 11th for an eagle to get to 8 under on the day. But after saving par on the 13th, Scott never made another birdie and had to settle for a 66 that left him in at 7-under 209 with Lucas Glover, who had a 67.

Jim Furyk is looking for his win on TOUR in 2006. (Cox/ WireImage)

Still, Scott had few complaints.

"It's just what I needed to get myself in the mix," said Scott, who started the day nine shots behind. "I dropped a couple coming in, but I had my moments of brilliance out there, and it felt good to get it going again."

Singh, the defending champion, bogeyed two of his last three holes for a 71 but was still alive at 210, along with Shigeki Maruyama (67) and Steve Lowery (69).

Masters champion Phil Mickelson finished with a round of 73, leaving him at even-par 216 for the tournament.

"I'm just playing poorly, and I think I might just need a little break and try to get refreshed before the U.S. Open," said Mickelson, who is scheduled to play his third straight tournament next week at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship.

Divots: Ernie Els, making his first trip to Quail Hollow, shot a third-round 75. ... Furyk now has five consecutive rounds in the 60s at Quail Hollow.

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