That was level with England's Robert Rock, who also had a 66, and two shots clear of Irishman Rory McIlroy (68), Sweden's Peter Hanson (65), Italy's Francesco Molinari (66) and Scotland's Paul Lawrie (64).

A further stroke back came South African pair George Coetzee (65) and James Kingston (67) alongside France's Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (69) and Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen (71).

Woods started the day in the $US2.7 million ($2.55 million) European Tour event tied for fifth with McIlroy and seven others on five-under, two shy of leader Olesen.

Playing confident, controlled golf off the tee in what is his season-opener, the 36-year-old American completed a second bogey-free round in three days and added five birdies for his 67.

The lead changed several times on a day of perfect playing conditions which allowed for low-scoring on Abu Dhabi's testing National Course.

Kingston, Gonnet, Hanson and Rock all took command at one stage or another before Woods edged ahead with his fifth birdie of the day at the 14th.

From there on in, he parred the next four holes and birdied the par-five last after reaching the green comfortably in two.

His six-under 66 was his best tournament score since he shot the same number in the second round of last year's Masters.