Britain's Lee Westwood birdied the first three holes to move into a three-way tie for the lead midway through Saturday's third round at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Although the Englishman bogeyed the ninth after being bunkered off the tee, he parred the 10th to stay level with overnight pacesetter Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson at seven-under for the tournament. Fijian Singh, bidding for his first PGA Tour victory of the year, and American playing partner Mickelson had completed nine holes at a sun-drenched Firestone Country Club. Pony-tailed Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, who holed out from the fairway to birdie the ninth, was alone in fourth at six under with seven holes to play. Singh, one ahead of the chasing pack overnight, made a fast start with birdies at the second and third, where he chipped in from behind the green, to briefly get to nine-under. However, he slipped back at the fourth and seventh where he failed to reach either green in regulation. Mickelson, who had bogeyed the first after driving into a fairway bunker, recovered with birdies at the second and eighth to join Singh and Westwood in a three-way share of the lead. Britain's Darren Clarke, champion here in 2003, charged into contention for the prestigious World Golf Championship (WGC) title with a sparkling five-under-par 65. Although not entirely satisfied with his overall game, the Northern Irishman drew on his Firestone experience to post a four-under total of 206. “I actually didn't quite play so well, especially on the back nine where I struggled a little bit,” Clarke told reporters. “But I hit it close enough and knocked a few putts in. I like this place and I've played well here before so it was pretty enjoyable. “I know the golf course and I know where I should miss and where I shouldn't miss. “I made a silly mistake on 18, and so be it,” he added, referring to his bogey at the par-four last where he pulled his approach well left of the green. “But 65 is a pretty good score.” On Friday, Singh relied on his belly putter while grabbing a one-shot lead. Singh compiled five birdies and one bogey in relatively calm conditions for a seven-under tally of 133. “I worked a lot on my putting last week and a few weeks ago and decided I'm going to stick to a belly putter,” Singh said. “I've been going back and forth and couldn't get any consistency out of it. Wie misses cut Michelle Wie's slim hopes of making the cut at the Reno-Tahoe Open evaporated when she battled to an eight-over-par 80 in Friday's second round at Montreux Golf & Country Club in Reno, Nevada. Bidding to become the first woman to survive the cut in a PGA Tour event in 63 years, the American teenager bogeyed two of her first six holes and ran up an ugly quintuple-bogey nine at the eighth before posting a nine-over total of 153. While fellow Honolulu native Parker McLachlin charged to the top of the leaderboard with a course record-equaling 62, Wie had to settle for her eighth missed cut in eight attempts on the world's most lucrative circuit. She had faced an uphill task at the start of the day after an opening 73 left her eight strokes behind pacesetting American Jeff Overton and her unlikely bid for glory was left in tatters as she covered her back nine in seven-over 43. McLachlin birdied seven of the last 11 holes for a flawless 62 and a 36-hole tally of 14-under 130, good enough for a four-stroke lead. Australian rookie Nick Flanagan, Britain's Brian Davis, and Americans Larry Mize and John Merrick are tied for second at 10-under for the tournament.
