San Antonio, TX -- (Sports Network) - Rory Sabbatini shot a seven-under 63 to take the third-round lead Saturday at the Texas Open.

Sabbatini rolled in a 14-foot birdie at the 18th hole to take a one-shot lead over Zach Johnson at 14-under-par 196 heading into the final round at LaCantera Golf Club.

Johnson fired an eight-under 62 and also birdied the 18th hole to vault from a tie for 22nd place into solo second at 13-under 197.

Tim Wilkinson (63), Tim Herron (67) and second-round leader Chris Stroud (69) stood two strokes behind Johnson in a tie for third place at 11-under 199.

Only seven more players were within five shots of Sabbatini's lead.

Looking to rehabilitate a season that started well with a pair of early top- three finishes, but spiraled with a flurry of middling performances and missed cuts, Sabbatini made his run Saturday over the final eight holes.

An eagle at the par-four 11th was followed by three consecutive birdies beginning at the 13th. He rolled in a 17-foot birdie putt at the end of that streak to tie Johnson, who was already in the clubhouse.

Sabbatini went on to birdie the 18th from 14 feet, taking his one-shot lead.

It was the first time in more than 14 months that the 32-year-old South African held the 54-hole.

"I'm just going to approach it the way I did the last couple of days," Sabbatini, who hasn't won since last year's Colonial, said of the final round. "I've got a new driver in the bag and a new three-wood in the bag and they're performing better and better each day."

Sabbatini, who needed just 26 putts to make it through the third round, said it's been an "interesting" week with the flat stick.

"My putter hasn't exactly been my best friend out there," he said, "but for some reason [the eagle at No. 11] seemed to wake everything up."

Johnson -- who has seen a similar fall-off to Sabbatini's since he won twice last year, including at the Masters -- came within two shots of tying the course record.

He posted back-to-back birdies twice on the front nine -- and collected five overall there -- to carry a lot of momentum into the turn. He followed a birdie putt at the 14th with a 20-footer for birdie at the 15th to take a one- shot lead.

Johnson protected his lead with a 14-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole, but was eventually passed by Sabbatini.

Afterward, he spoke at length about getting his game back in shape following a poor season that has seen him tumble in the world rankings and climb to just 125th on the money list.

"I made a commitment to change my fundamentals back to where they used to be and I didn't expect them to come back this fast," said Johnson, who hadn't played since missing the cut at the Barclay's in August.

"I just want to gain some confidence in my game. My caddie has been very encouraged, I just haven't seen the results ...I'm just trying to work on the present and things are starting to go my way."

Mark Wilson (66), Joe Ogilvie (67), Michael H. Thompson (67), Jeff Overton (67) and Tim Petrovic (68) were tied for sixth place at 10-under 200. Greg Kraft (65) and Mark Hensby (67) were the only other players within five strokes of Sabbatini at nine-under 201.