TARGET WORLD CHALLENGE: IT'S NO CHALLENGE HARRINGTON'S 63 SETS COURSE RECORD, FORGES 6-SHOT LEAD.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer

THOUSAND OAKS - For the record, Bernhard Langer has been shooting the lights out for two days in the Target World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club, making 16 birdies in his past 36 holes.

It was easy to overlook again Saturday.

While Langer was flying below the radar with a 67 that left him 12 under par for his past two rounds - a surge that elevated him from 15th to third place - Padraig Harrington was not only shooting out the lights but knocking down the pins, outdueling the best player in the world and setting a tournament record to grab the tournament lead.

``It is a great golf course to shoot a low number on,'' said Harrington, who eagled his first three par-5s Saturday en route to a 9-under-par 63 that broke the single-round record and vaulted him to a six-stroke lead over playing partner and midway leader Tiger Woods.

``He played smart, he played solid and he made a lot of putts,'' said Woods, who shot 70 to drop to second place and, at 203 to Harrington's 197, will be paired with the 31-year-old Irishman again in today's final twosome.

``He is a very good player and still improving,'' said Langer, whose 16- for-36 birdie binge was overshadowed by Harrington's continuing solid play on Sherwood's five par-5s, where five eagles, nine birdies and a par have given him his 19-under-par tournament total just on those holes.

``What's a man got to do to get an albatross around here?'' said Herrington's caddie, Dave McNealey, after Herrington bounced a 3-iron second shot off the flagstick on the par-5 11th, then hit a 5-wood second shot that rolled close past the flagstick on the par-5 13th.

It was going that well in the third round for Harrington, whose three eagles - something that hasn't happened for more than a year in a PGA Tour event - included one on the 531-yard second hole for a third consecutive day at this challenge-season event.

He putted in two eagles, pitched in another - from 70 yards on the 534- yard fifth hole - and added five birdies, the last on the 166-yard, par-3 17th in breaking the tournament record shared by Woods, Sergio Garcia, Davis Love III and Thomas Bjorn.

Harrington's final birdie came on a 12-foot putt: ``When things are going for you, those sort of putts go in, don't they?'' he said.

Now comes the hard part - holding the lead today while playing head-to- head against Woods, the No. 1 player in the world, who also is tournament host and defending champion.

Traditional play-safe-with-a-big-lead tactics might not be such a simple strategy, considering the way Harrington's game went Saturday.

``The only time I hit some bad shots was on (holes) 4, 6 and 14, where I was actually playing safe,'' he said. ``That is going to be the toughest part (today). I am OK when I am firing at the flags, and I am struggling a bit when I am trying to go to the middle of the greens.

``And with a six-shot lead, you are always going to be doubting whether you should be firing at the pins or going at the middle of the greens.''

Harrington said his game plan will involve calculated aggression.

``If I've got the right number in my hand and I am in the right position, yes, I will be aggressive,'' Harrington said. ``I don't think I will be aggressive from the wrong position.''

Woods, who had put together 30 bogeyless holes before bogeying the 202-yard, par-3 third Saturday, wound up with four more bogeys in a round he called sloppy.

``I made too many mistakes,'' he said, ``and didn't make any putts early in the round, which was the key, because I needed to try to keep pace with Paddy.''

Langer, whose nine-birdie round of 65 on Friday was similarly overshadowed by the 65 that got Woods into the lead, had another seven birdies in his third-round 67 to get to 204, a stroke ahead of David Toms (68-205) and Nick Price (70-205).

First-round leader Jim Furyk (68) and Colin Montgomerie (68) were next at 206, followed by Love (73-207), Retief Gosen (73-210) and Phil Mickelson (68-210).

Today, they're all chasing Harrington, who will wait to assess his record round of Saturday.

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