Mercedes-Benz Championship:Jim Furyk relishes playing in Hawaii and charged into contention at the Mercedes-Benz Championship with a sparkling, seven-under-par 66 in Saturday night's third round.

The American world number three caught fire on the back nine, with a burst of five birdies in the last seven holes lifting him into a tie for sixth place, four strokes off the lead held by Canadian left-hander Mike Weir on 13 under par.

"I had a kind of a slow start and really struggled with my putter early, believe it or not," Furyk said after shooting the best score of the week for a nine-under total of 210.

"I missed a little four-footer at nine and a bunch of short ones . . . some very, very makable putts. But I made some good strokes on the back nine and got to see some putts go in and really turned it around. So from way back, I'm kind of in the thick of things."

Furyk, the 2001 champion, ended a day of good scoring conditions at the Kapalua Resort four shots behind pacesetting Weir. He leads Nick Watney by one shot while Daniel Chopra and Jonathan Byrd are tied for third at 11-under.

Weir played in an all-Canadian pairing with Stephen Ames and found himself tied for the lead with Ames for much of the round.

Weir went back in front when Ames bogeyed the 10th and he added birdies at the 12th, 14th and 18th coming in.

"Even within six shots, you always have a chance to win a tournament, but that's depending on how many guys are ahead of you," Furyk said.

Furyk, who owns a property at Kapalua, accepts he will have to maintain his putting form of the third round to give himself a chance of securing a 14th PGA Tour title in the opening event of the 2008 season.

"I hope to play similarly tomorrow but I've got to knock some putts in and get off to a better start on the front nine and try to make it interesting."