BBC SPORT | Golf | US Open | Woods keeps rivals at bay

The world number one, however, had to wait until the 15th hole for his first birdie, by which time he had already dropped two strokes.

But by the time Woods picked up his second birdie at the 17th his lead was back to a healthy four shots, and he remains a strong favourite to take the title on Sunday.

"Today was a long day and it seemed like I was over par for most of it," Woods said afterwards.

"I saw the guys were making a run at it, at me, and I just tried to keep hanging in there.

Hole-by-hole coverage of Woods' round

Final round tee-off times

"I didn't hit the ball particularly well starting out but I started hitting a little bit more crisp, but not like I did the first two days."

By the 11th hole things were looking grim for the Masters champion as he stood two over for the day, with cheers ringing out as his rivals made birdies elsewhere.

Sergio Garcia
Garcia will play with Woods on Sunday

Chief among them was Mickelson, who had a typically inconsistent round that began and ended poorly, with a stretch of pure genius in the middle holes.

"It was a fun day there for the middle of the round when I got things going, but the start didn't look promising," the world number two said.

"I knew that I needed to turn it around but the last thing on my mind was trying to get in contention to win because, even if I get it back, Tiger goes out and shoots three or four under par and it wouldn't make any difference."

Faldo finds old sparkle

The world number two dropped three shots in the first five holes, but then made six birdies in 11 before a bogey five on the last for a round of 67.

Mickelson will start the final day on level par alongside Jeff Maggert, who did tremendously well to card the first round of the week (68) that did not contain a bogey.

Garcia played some typically flamboyant strokes on his way to a 67, collecting two birdies in the closing holes to ensure he will make up an exciting final pair with Woods on Sunday.

Australia's Robert Allenby was one of the big movers of the day with a 67 to go one over, but it was Nick Faldo who made the best of the relatively easy conditions.

The Englishman went round in 66 to finish on two over and in position at least for a top-15 finish that would guarantee his presence next year.

Faldo rediscovers sparkle

US Open: Third-round scores
(US unless stated)

-5 Tiger Woods 67 68 70
-1 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 74 67
Even Phil Mickelson 70 73 67, Jeff Maggert 69 73 68
+1 Robert Allenby (Aus) 74 70 67, Billy Mayfair 69 74 68, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 70 68 73
+2 Nick Faldo (Gbr) 70 76 66, Justin Leonard 73 71 68
+4 Tom Byrum 72 72 70, Scott McCarron 72 72 70, Davis Love 71 71 72
+5 Mark O'Meara 76 70 69, Charles Howell 71 74 70, Dudley Hart 69 76 70, KJ Choi (Kor) 69 73 73


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