San Francisco ? John Daly relied on the long ball to get back into contention, then to take the lead away from Colin Montgomerie on Saturday in an American Express Championship that kept a chilled gallery in suspense.

Daly hit a 378-yard drive that set up an eagle on the par-5 10th, ripped a 292-yard drive into the stiff wind for a chip-and-putt birdie on the par-4 16th, and finished his turbulent day at Harding Park with a 3-under 67 for a one-shot lead over Montgomerie.

Tiger Woods somehow was two shots behind. His scorecard showed a 68, but didn’t include sketches of where some of his shots landed – one of them under an SUV parked in the woods, another that went off the cart path, over a 25-foot hospitality tent and was headed for the parking lot until it grazed someone’s leg and stopped on the stairs.

Then there was Graeme McDowell, who was tied for the lead until he hit into the cypress trees along the wicked 18th hole and made quadruple bogey.

“Golf is a cruel game,” McDowell said.

This test at San Francisco’s municipal gem was simply riveting, and the best might be still to come.

Daly, who started with a bogey and a double bogey on his first three holes, was at 9-under 201 and poised to capture his first victory in 19 months.

Montgomerie, who only last week ended his 19-month victory drought, closed with 10 straight pars for a 69, giving him another tee time with Daly today. They will be joined by Sergio Garcia, who shot a 67 to join Woods at 7 under.

Daly saw a lot of his driver. He is hitting it so well that he is hitting it 80 percent of the time. As for the other 20 percent?

“Those were the par 3s,” Daly said.

He is a gallery favorite wherever he goes, because the fans love the long ball. And so does Daly.

“It’s a lot of fun when it goes a long way and it goes straight, man,” Daly said. “When it goes crooked and all over the place, it’s not a lot of fun. But it’s to an advantage this week. So far, it’s been paying off.”