Charlie Wi Has Edge Over Tiger Woods at Pebble Beach PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - Tiger Woods won his fifth PGA Tour start as a professional. Charlie Wi, a Southern California contemporary of Woods, is 18 holes from his first tour victory in his 163rd appearance. The paths of Wi and Woods have converged this week at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, where both will go out Sunday with essentially the same goal: to taste victory after a long drought. Woods, 36, has not won a tour event since the 2009 BMW Championship. Wi, 40, has not won anywhere since the 2006 Malaysian Open. The last time they were mentioned in the same breath was in 1995 when Wi, then a senior at California, was named a first-team all-American along with Woods, a Stanford freshman. Wi, who played at Spyglass Hill, posted a three-under-par 69 - his third consecutive sub-70 score - and is at 15-under 199. After two days of frustration on the greens, the putts finally started to drop for Woods, who carded a five-under 67 at Pebble Beach Golf Links for a 54-hole total of 11-under 203. Ken Duke, who set a course-record 28 on the back nine at Pebble Beach on Thursday, carded a five-under 65 at Monterey Peninsula Country Club and is wedged between Wi and Woods, at minus 12. "I have a lot more pressure on me than he does because he's won 70-some times, and I'm trying to get my first," Wi said. Lurking off the lead, with their teeth sharpened, are Padraig Harrington and Phil Mickelson, who have combined for seven major championships. Harrington is at eight under, and Mickelson is at nine under and tied for fourth with, among others, the two-time champion Dustin Johnson. Woods started on the back nine at Pebble and made birdie putts ranging from 2 to 23 feet on Nos. 13, 14, 15, 17 and 18 to awaken the roars. His swing remained consistent even as the weather vacillated between misty rain, partial sunshine and overcast gloom. This is the fourth consecutive tournament in which he has played himself into contention. Woods finished third in the Australian Open and third in the Abu Dhabi Championship and won the Chevron World Challenge in between, but it was not an official event. "That's why we play is to be there," Woods said, "and that's why I train as hard as I do and practice as hard as I do." Unlike Woods, who was introduced to golf as a toddler and groomed to be the best in the world, Wi did not consider a pro career until he capped a memorable senior season at Cal by winning the Pacific-10 championship, an event Woods said he missed because of injury. Wi expressed gratitude that Woods had returned from his latest injuries and appeared to be rounding into top form. "We definitely need Tiger out here," he said. It's very important for him to be competing and being near the lead all the time because that drives viewers and that's what helps us with our retirement fund. He laughed. Their paths first crossed, Wi said, at a tournament at El Dorado Country Club in Long Beach, Calif., when he was 13 and Woods was 9. "The ninth hole is a really long par 3, like 250 yards," Wi said. For some reason, he was 70 yards short of the green. And I remember, he almost hit a 70-yard wedge into the hole and he got so upset. I said: "Tiger, that's a great shot. What's wrong? And he said, "I was trying to make that." That's always stuck in my mind, how competitive he was. As Wi was finishing the story, Woods slipped into the interview room and was standing in the back. I was just telling the story about El Dorado and No. 9, that long par 3," Wi told him. Smiling, Woods said, "I forgot." Later, after he had supplanted Wi at the podium, Woods was asked what he remembered about that childhood round. "From my version," he said, "I think it went in." Woods has fond memories of Pebble Beach, where he has won this tournament once. It also was the site of his 15-stroke victory in the 2000 United States Open. Wi won the state amateur here in 1990 during the summer before his freshman year of college. In the two previous weeks on the tour, the 54-hole leaders squandered leads of five and six strokes and each lost. "I'm sure I'll be fighting my demons all day tomorrow," Wi said. It's just how I handle myself tomorrow emotionally that's going to make the difference.