MELBOURNE, Australia — Back in Australia for the first time in 11 years, Tiger Woods is in a familiar place.

He opened with two birdies that revved up another massive crowd, saved his round with two par putts in the middle and kept bogeys off his card on his way to a 4-under 68 that gave him a three-shot lead today.

It was the fourth straight tournament that Woods has been atop the leaderboard going into the weekend. The trick now is to finish it off, even with no one among the top 50 in the world chasing him.

Woods has failed to win the last two times, at the Tour Championship and HSBC Champions, both won by Phil Mickelson.

Despite losing his swing and at times his temper, Woods built a comfortable margin over Jason Dufner (67) and a pair of Australians who had a chance to join him in the final pairing Saturday.

James Nitties, who played behind Woods in another rock-concert atmosphere at Kingston Heath, bogeyed the 15th and 17th holes and had to settle for a 71. Greg Chalmers got a bad lie on the 17th and made bogey to shoot 69.

Both lost a chance to play before a hometown crowd with the world's No. 1 player, who was at 10-under 134.

"It's been very rare when he comes down here, and who knows when he'll come again, so to play with him at any time is always a pleasure," Chalmers said. "I was a little frustrated by that, but at the same time I have played with him before. "

"To shoot 68 today, I thought that was a pretty good number considering the conditions," Woods said. "I did have a couple of short birdie putts that I missed ... but not to drop a shot to par, those are always days that you feel quite good about."