Woods leaves rivals in his wake

Tiger Woods left Luke Donald and the rest trailing in his wake as he closed in on another piece of history in Chicago on Sunday.

A brilliant outward 32 that contained two putts of more than 30 feet lifted the world number one, joint overnight leader with Donald, to 18 under par and four clear.

If he could cover the inward half in "just" two under, Woods would break his own record not only for the event, but also for any major as well. He set the mark with his 19 under at St Andrews in the 2000 Open.

Donald, who had hoped to become the first European to win a major since 1999 and the first to win this title since Tommy Armour in 1930, suffered a succession of blows right from the off.

The pair resumed on 14 under par and Donald, who knew the size of the task facing him, saw Woods draw first blood when he converted a 10-foot birdie chance on the opening green.

After six holes Donald was not even second any more and by the turn he was in a three-way tie for third.

He had his first bogey in 40 holes when he could not save par on the fourth after driving into a divot hole, then missed a three-footer at the long next and so failed to match Woods's two-putt birdie.

Woods, poised to go second in the all-time list with his 12th major, then moved to 17 under with a 35-footer on the sixth and, after saving par from the trees on the long next, made a putt almost as long at the 204-yard eighth.

Canadian Mike Weir, who scored 80 when he was in Donald's position at the same event on the same course in 1999, moved into second spot with birdies at the third and fifth, but was two behind on 14 under.