With three birdies in a five-hole span, defending champion Padraig Harrington cut Tiger Woods' lead to one stroke, three fewer than when he started the third round of the US PGA Championship Saturday. Several other players were making runs, too, including Ernie Els. Woods was at 7-under, same as when he began, with Harrington at 6-under and Els at 5. US Open champion Lucas Glover, Henrik Stenson, Soren Kjeldsen and Y.E. Yang were three strokes back, at 4-under. Despite some ominous clouds hanging over Hazeltine National for most of the day, conditions had evened out. The wind was more breezy than gusty, and it's cooler than it was the first three days. “The wind is a little tricky, making a lot of the long holes longer,” said Steve Flesch, who had seven birdies on his way to a 3-under 69. It made for good scoring conditions – for everybody but Woods, it seemed. He started well, making a 3-footer for an easy birdie on his second hole, but couldn't take advantage of the conditions. He ran into some bad luck on the par-3 No. 4 when his ball dropped halfway in the cup and rolled around the rim. Instead of falling, it popped back out. The crowd groaned and Woods started in disbelief. It was his first bogey on a short hole this week. His irons didn't have their usual precision, he hasn't been as accurate off the tee and he's left a couple of birdie putts short. In short, he doesn't look like the same player who was threatening to run away with his first major of the year – and 15th overall – just one day earlier. He did make a nice par save on the par-5 No. 7. His approach shot hit the green, but then spun back off and into the thick fringe. Woods chipped on, and made the putt. Still, Woods was 8-0 in majors when he's the 36-hole leader. He hasn't lost a 36-hole lead on the US PGA Tour in five years, and that was when he was revamping his swing. “In fairness to Tiger, that's not going to last forever. Maybe he'll be 60 when it's broken, but it's not going to last forever,” Harrington, who played with Woods for the first two rounds, said Friday. “Maybe I'll be the guy who does it. I suppose that's the way to look at it.” Harrington was doing his best. He made a 20-footer on No. 8, and birdied two par-5s. Phil Mickelson, who has played sparingly this summer as his wife and mother battle breast cancer and made the cut on the number, had another rough day with a 4-over 76 that left him at 8 over. He bogeyed his first three par-5s – including the No. 3 for a second straight day – opened the back nine with three straight bogeys and made just one birdie. “It's frustrating for me to not be in contention on the weekend of a major,” Mickelson said. “But that's motivation for me to work hard.”
