Harrington Slips After Round 3

Padraig Harrington appeared to have placed himself strongly in contention for the title after he too enjoyed a profitable day through 15 holes at Pebble Beach. However, Harrington undid all his good work with a bogey and double bogey in two of his final three holes to fall back to eight-under.

Tiger Woods began his charge towards the top of the leaderboard during the third round of the AT&T National Pro-Am, firing his best score of the tournament to move within four strokes of leaderCharlie Wi.

Woods showed how dangerous he can be when the putter is working by registering a five-under-par 67, lifting him to an overall score of 11-under. The round takes him two shots closer to the leader as he heads into Sunday.

The world No. 1 actually produced his worst performance of the event off the tee, hitting less fairways than in either of the first two days. But a tally of 27 swings of the short stick testified to his improved work around the greens, resulting in a run of five birdies in six holes between 13 and 18.

Wi remains the pace-setter after consecutive 69s lifted him to 15-under. Operating on the Spyglass Hill course, Wi stayed flawless for a round of three birdies thanks to some accurate approach work.

Separating Wi and Woods is Ken Duke, who equalled his compatriot's effort with a five-under round to move to 12-under. Duke tackled the Monterey Peninsula on Saturday and, like Wi, avoiding making bogey in an excellent round of golf.

Phil Mickelson may have left himself too much to do after he finished on nine-under. The big-hitting American did not find consistency in any area of the game throughout his round, but he cobbled together a formula that yielded a two-under 70 to place him in the top five. Mickelson is joined by compatriots Kevin Naand Brendon Todd, as well as defending champion Dustin Johnson.

England's highest-placed player was Greg Owen, who trailed Harrington by one stroke after the final hole. Meanwhile Ian Poulter looked set to avoid the cut on one-under.


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