HOYLAKE, England - A grinding Tiger Woods shrugged off a cold putter to retain his one-stroke lead and repel the challenges of Sergio Garcia, Chris DiMarco and Ernie Els in the British Open third round this morning (NZ time).
Champion Woods, one ahead overnight, landed five birdies but three three-putts
on the back nine contributed to four bogeys in a one-under 71 for a 13-under aggregate of 203.
A turbo-charged Garcia produced the best performance of the day as his seven-under 65 tied the course record for the revamped Hoylake layout and earned a last-group pairing with world number one Woods on Sunday.
The 26-year-old Spaniard shared second place with American DiMarco (69) and 2002 winner Els (71).
A further shot adrift on 205 were Angel Cabrera of Argentina and Jim Furyk of the US, while Hideto Tanihara of Japan was alone on 10-under after all three returned 66s.
Woods missed a succession of putts, including a five-footer for par at the 14th where he had holed his approach for an eagle two on Friday.
The 10-times major winner then nudged back into the lead when he sank a three-footer for a birdie at the last.
"I thought I hit the ball beautifully but three three-putts on the back nine is not very good at all," Woods told reporters.
"These are some of the most tasty pins I've ever seen at a British Open and the speed keeps changing.
"Tomorrow there's a bunch of guys up there, hopefully we can both get it going and see what happens," he added of his pairing with Garcia.
The 30-year-old American has won all 10 times he has led a major going into the final round.
Garcia, yet to deliver on the promise he showed as a youth and seeking his first major triumph, came within a stroke of the lowest nine holes in British Open history when he raced to the turn in only 29 shots.
He started in spectacular fashion, holing a nine-iron approach shot from 167 yards for an eagle two at the second before reeling off birdies at the fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth.
Briton Denis Durnian returned an outward half of 28 at Royal Birkdale in 1983.
But, as the skies turned grey and a gentle breeze developed, Garcia registered eight successive pars on the back nine before completing his round with another birdie at the last.
"I really had it going on the front nine and then I struggled with the pace of the greens," he said.
"These greens are getting brown and when I had to get from green parts to brown parts I was a little bit tentative.
"I did what I had to do. I've just got to keep playing the way I've been playing the last few days and especially today."
DiMarco looked as though he was sliding out of contention when he dropped strokes at the seventh and ninth.
He hit back, though, with an inspired birdie hat-trick from the 11th and another birdie at the 16th.
Els, partnering Woods, was not happy with his own game. "I didn't have my rhythm today and without my putter I would have been out of it," said the South African. "I'm a little bit surprised (to be one off the lead).
"The front nine I was all over the place and I guess I dragged him (Woods) down a bit. But we both showed a lot of character down the stretch."
Cabrera, bidding to emulate the victory by compatriot Roberto de Vicenzo, last time the event was held at Hoylake 39 years ago, came back in 32 with four birdies and an eagle to shoot a 66.
Earlier, the tournament burst into life with several stunning strokes all round the course.
Greg Owen of Britain (208) sunk a massive 60-foot birdie putt at the 11th while Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant (213) replicated Garcia's feat by holing his second shot for another eagle at the second.
Australian John Senden recorded the second hole-in-one of the week when he aced the 198-yard, par-three 13th with a six-iron on his way to a one-over 73 for 216.
SCORES AFTER THIRD ROUND:
203 - Tiger Woods (US) 67 65 71
204 - Sergio Garcia (Spain) 68 71 65, Chris DiMarco (US) 70 65 69, Ernie Els (South Africa) 68 65 71
205 - Jim Furyk (US) 68 71 66, Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 71 68 66
206 - Hideto Tanihara (Japan) 72 68 66
207 - Mark Calcavecchia (US) 71 68 68, Adam Scott (Australia) 68 69 70
208 - Andres Romero (Argentina) 70 70 68, Greg Owen (Britain) 67 73 68, Peter Lonard (Australia) 71 69 68, Robert Allenby (Australia) 69 70 69, Jerry Kelly (US) 72 67 69, Retief Goosen (South Africa) 70 66 72
ALSO:
216 - Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 70 71 75 (share of 54th place)
- REUTERS
HOYLAKE, England - A grinding Tiger Woods shrugged off a cold putter to retain his one-stroke lead and repel the challenges of Sergio Garcia, Chris DiMarco and Ernie Els in the British Open third round this morning (NZ time).
Champion Woods, one ahead overnight, landed five birdies but three three-putts
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