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CHASKA, Minnesota: Tiger Woods clung to a two-stroke lead after Saturday's third round of the 91st PGA Championship, plodding to a one-under par 71 while rivals charged at him only to fall back.
Woods, seeking his 15th major title, finished 54 holes on eight-under par 208, two strokes ahead of defending champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland and South Korea's Yang Yong-Eun, who matched Woods for the week's low round at 67.
World number one Woods, whose 14 major titles are four shy of the all-time record 18 won by Jack Nicklaus, has never lost a major when leading after 54 holes but has never won a major when behind entering the final round.
Woods birdied the second hole, lipped out from three feet to take a bogey at the fourth and followed with nine pars, allowing Harrington to match him for the lead and other foes to close what was a four-stroke gap when the day began.
Woods reclaimed the lead alone at the par-4 14th, blasting his tee shot 320 yards over the green, bouncing a chip across the green, then curling in a 20-foot putt to reclaim sole possession of the lead at eight-under par.
At the 18th, Woods had an eight-foot birdie putt but missed, leaving half a dozen rivals within five strokes entering the final round.
Harrington was near his first bogey-free round in 11 PGA Championships but found rough at 18 and chipped across the green, then rolled a putt from the fringe two feet past the cup and settled for a bogey to fall two behind Woods.
"It was a disappointing way to finish," Harrington said.
Brisk winds added to the challenge of Hazeltine's 7,674-yard layout, the longest course in major championship history, and they could return Sunday when scattered thunderstorms are in the forecast.
"There was a lot of wind so I was anticipating reducing one or two strokes but somehow I ended up getting back five strokes," Yang said. "I just tried to concentrate on every shot. Hopefully I'll continue this pace tomorrow as well."
Yang, who has shaved three strokes off his score each day, birdied three of the last five holes on the front nine and followed his lone bogey at the par-3 13th with birdies on the next three holes.
As a result, the 37-year-old from Seoul who won his first PGA event this year at Riviera put himself in position to become Asia's first major champion if he can overcome Woods, who won his 70th career tile last week.
"He has won 70 times. I've only won once. So 70-1 odds," Yang said. "I might as well go for broke."
US Open champion Lucas Glover and Sweden's Henrik Stenson shared fourth on 212, one stroke ahead of three-time major winner Ernie Els of South Africa and Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen.
Woods has won four Masters titles, three US Opens, three British Opens and could take his fifth PGA Championship to match the all-time record shared by Nicklaus and Walter Hagen.
But if Woods does not hoist the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday, this will be the first year since 2004 in which he has not won a major title.
Hazeltine has thwarted Woods before. He birdied the last four holes here at the 2002 PGA Championship but lost by a stroke to US journeyman Rich Beem.
Three-time major champion Vijay Singh, paired with Woods, hit a stunning 60-foot eagle chip-in at the par-5 seventh but the Fijian struggled with the putter, missing five from within five feet, and fell off the pace.
Harrington birdied the par-5 seventh, par-3 eighth and par-5 11th to pull within a stroke of Woods, sank a tense six-footer for par at 12 and rescued par from eight feet at 13 before a birdie at 14 pulled him briefly even with Woods.
Els, the 1994 and 1997 US Open champion and 2002 British Open winner, sank a 50-foot birdie putt from off the 12th green to pull within two strokes of Woods before fading at the finish.
Stenson opened with a bogey but answered with birdies on the next two holes, then added birdies at the seventh, ninth and par-5 15th.
- AFP/yb
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