Vijay Singh has gotten off to a superb start in his bid to win the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.

The Fijian, who began his fourth round in a tie for first on eight under par with Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson, has picked up a further three strokes in his first eight holes.

Combined with the slower pace of his challengers – playing partner Westwood is level for the day and Mickelson is two under through eight – Singh currently holds a one shot advantage at the top.

His fine form began with a birdie at the second before he added further strokes at the third and fourth to reach 11 under.

Another birdie followed at the fifth sixth to put daylight between him and Mickelson, who birdied the par five second and par three fifth, but a bogey at the eighth reduced his lead to one.

Westwood, meanwhile, got off to a fine start but has faltered. He opened with a pair of birdies, but a bogey at the fourth and a double bogey five at the seventh derailed his charge. A birdie at the eighth brought him back to eight under, three off the pace.

Australia’s Peter Lonard proved his credentials by claiming four strokes in his first 15 holes, leaving on seven under.

He is joined by South Africa’s Retief Goosen and Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke, who are two under and three under respectively after ten holes.

England’s Paul Casey has set the clubhouse target at six under par after shooting a superb final round score of 65, while Henrik Stenson finished two under alongside K J Choi.

Padraig Harrington finished one under par, while Ernie Els was a shot further back.