Kenny Perry fired a six-under 64 on Saturday to fly past second-round leader Tiger Woods and into the third-round lead of The Tour Championship.

Perry finished 54 holes at eight-under 202 and is two clear of Woods, who managed only a one-under 69 on Saturday, at East Lake Golf Club in the final event of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Woods is atop the standings in the playoffs and a win on Sunday would give Woods his second FedEx Cup title in three years. A victory for Perry doesn't guarantee the Kentucky native the crown and its $10 million prize.

Perry is ninth in the standings and the scenario for him to win the FedEx Cup title requires help from Woods and others in the top five. Perry has to win the Tour Championship and Woods must finish in a three-way tie for third or worse and either Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk or Zach Johnson must not finish in a solo second.

There are other scenarios that involve Woods not finishing in ties for second or third with various numbers of players. It's complicated, but there are ways for Perry to walk off a richer man.

Things are tricky considering Woods is second in the tournament. Stricker fired a four-under 66 on Sunday and moved into a tie for seventh place, but Furyk and Johnson are both down the leaderboard.

To sum up, this appears to be exactly what the PGA Tour wanted when it changed the points system this year for the playoffs. It will be a Sunday shootout at the last event for the FedEx Cup title with Perry and Woods in the final pairing.

"I look forward to it. I'm going to jab him a little bit tomorrow," said Perry, a 14-time PGA Tour winner. "Everybody will kind of be figuring numbers and percentages, who falls where. It might be exciting tomorrow."

Phil Mickelson shot a 66 and vaulted into a tie for third place with first- round leader Sean O'Hair, who was undone by a double-bogey on 17. O'Hair posted an even-par 70 and joined Mickelson at four-under 206.

Mickelson is 14th in the FedEx Cup standings and will need a lot of help to get the year-long title. O'Hair is No. 7, so his chances are easier than Mickelson's, but it's all moot without the Tour Championship title.

Padraig Harrington, who played in Saturday's final group with Woods, struggled to a one-over 71 and is tied for fifth place with Steve Marino, who carded a 67 in round three. The pair is knotted at minus-three.

They are all chasing Perry, who flew out of the gate on Saturday, albeit earlier than expected. Tournament officials moved up the tee times due to storms rolling in Saturday afternoon, but Perry showed no signs of being weary.

He birdied his first four holes in round three and when his eight-footer at four fell into the cup, he was tied for the lead with Woods. Perry made a nice save at five, but a three-putt bogey at six dropped him out of first.

Perry atoned for the error at six with an 11-foot birdie at the seventh. That birdie got Perry back into first and it was his alone when Woods bogeyed the same hole a few groups later after an errant drive into a bunker.

Woods missed the fairway at 10 and eventually made bogey to fall two back at minus-four. He got one back with a long birdie putt at 11, but Perry reclaimed a two-stroke cushion with a 30-foot birdie putt at the par-four 12th.

After a good par save at 13, Perry knocked his second in a greenside bunker at the par-five 15th. He blasted out to six feet and holed the birdie putt to move to eight-under par and three ahead of Woods.

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