Rose, who won at Torrey Pines in 2019, started round three in San Diego with a four-shot advantage and quickly pulled away with a brilliant stretch of three holes on the front nine of the South course.
He hit a few loose swings early on the back to give Ireland's Seamus Power (74) and American Joel Dahmen (68) some hope.
But Englishman Rose sits at 21-under 195, the second-largest 54-hole lead at the tournament behind the eight-shot lead Woods had in 2008. Woods practically owned the public course with eight professional wins, including the US Open.
Power was doing his best to stay in range until three straight bogeys took him out of contention at 11 under, while Dahmen finished strong and is in second place at 15 under.
But it's a big lead for Dahmen, who finished outside the top 100 in the FedEx Cup in the year they reduced full cards from the top 125. He has conditional status and only got into the event because of two courses allowing for a larger field.
Rose, meanwhile, continues to enjoy what he once called his "Indian summer." At age 45, he was the oldest player on Europe's winning Ryder Cup team. Even if asked — if Luke Donald declines a third captaincy — Rose said last week his focus would be on playing in the 2027 Ryder Cup.
A PGA Tour victory would move him to as high as No.4 in the world rankings. No one has lost a lead larger than five shots at Torrey Pines, though Rose was once the beneficiary of a stunning collapse by Dustin Johnson in Shanghai.
Jason Day (68) is the best-placed Australian at seven under. Cameron Davis (71) and Karl Vilips (72) are two shots further back, with Adam Scott (73) four under.
Brooks Koepka (73), in his return to the PGA Tour from Saudi-funded LIV Golf, played a solid round except for some short putts to finish two under.
With AAP.
