KAPALUA (Hawaii) - GEOFF Ogilvy rolled in a 20-foot eagle putt at the par-five ninth to give himself much-needed breathing space after making a stumbling start in Sunday's final round at the Mercedes-Benz Championship.

Six ahead of the chasing pack overnight, Australian Ogilvy had bogeyed four of the first eight holes for his lead to be trimmed briefly to one shot before his putter came to the rescue at the ninth.

Seeking his fifth PGA Tour title in the opening event of the season, the pacesetting Ogilvy reached the turn in level-par 36 at the Kapalua Resort, three ahead of the field at 19-under overall.

Anthony Kim was alone in second, after 11 holes, with fellow Americans Davis Love III, Kenny Perry and Justin Leonard a further shot behind at 15 under.

Tour veterans Love, Leonard and Perry had each completed nine holes.

Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion who is known for being a steady front-runner, got off to a nightmare start on a breezy day at Kapalua with bogeys on the first two holes.

He pushed his drive well right and failed to reach the green in regulation at the par-four first before finding the right bunker off the tee at the par-three second and missing a five-footer.

Four ahead
That left him at 17 under, four strokes ahead of Kim, Love, Perry, Leonard and D.J. Trahan.

Although Ogilvy rebounded with birdies at the fifth and the 398-yard sixth, where he almost drove the green, he dropped another shot at the seventh after underhitting his approach.

Love briefly got to within three of the lead when he chipped in from 65 feet to eagle the par-four sixth but Kim made the biggest move among Ogilvy's challengers with a flawless start.

The Korean-American birdied the third, fourth, eighth and ninth to reach the turn in four-under 32, just two behind the pacesetting Australian.

Ogilvy, who had produced only one bogey in the first 54 holes this week, dropped another shot at the par-three eighth after being bunkered off the tee.

However, he reached the green in two at the 521-yard ninth before sinking the eagle putt to take a three-stroke lead into the back nine. -- REUTERS