Donald trails Day by two

Golf: European Ryder Cup wild card entrant Luke Donald remains well in contention for victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship…

Luke Donald of Britain hits onto the 18th green during the third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship golf tournament in Norton, Massachusetts September 5, 2010. -(Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters
Luke Donald of Britain hits onto the 18th green during the third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship golf tournament in Norton, Massachusetts September 5, 2010. -(Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Golf:European Ryder Cup wild card entrant Luke Donald remains well in contention for victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston by equalling leader Jason Day's five-under round of 66 to hold third spot.

Donald, 32, awarded one of Colin Montgomerie's captain's picks for the showdown with the United States at Celtic Manor next month, was five behind Australian Day midway through his round but fired five birdies on the back nine to head into the final round two shots back from Day, who is 17 under par for the tournament.

Donald is two shots ahead of Steve Stricker, who is in contention to depose Tiger Woods as world number one depending on how his final round goes on Monday.

Phil Mickelson is also a contender for the number one spot come the end of this event, tied for fifth after three rounds after a four-under-par 67 took him to 12 under for the tournament.

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Brandt Snedeker is second after 54 holes following a 67 and an eagle at the fourth.

Rory McIlroy carded a 69 but is 13 shots adrift on four under thanks to his second round of 76.

Collated third round scores & totals; (USA unless stated, Irish in bold par 71):

196Jason Day (Aus) 63 67 66

197Brandt Snedeker 66 64 67

198Luke Donald (Eng) 65 67 66

200Steve Stricker 65 68 67, Charley Hoffman 64 67 69

201Charlie Wi (Kor) 68 66 67, Phil Mickelson 69 65 67, Adam Scott (Aus) 67 69 65, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 64 72 65

202Justin Leonard 69 66 67, Andres Romero (Arg) 68 66 68, D.J. Trahan 64 69 69

203Vijay Singh (Fij) 66 68 69, John Rollins 66 70 67, John Senden (Aus) 66 68 69, Matt Kuchar 66 65 72, Tom Gillis 67 71 65

205Hunter Mahan 64 70 71, Steve Marino 65 69 71, Zach Johnson 63 71 71, Ryan Palmer 64 72 69, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 67 70 68

206Brian Davis (Eng) 64 73 69, Kris Blanks 66 68 72, Michael Sim (Aus) 68 66 72, Tiger Woods 72 65 69, Stewart Cink 68 66 72, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 69 68 69, Kevin Na 69 67 70, J.B. Holmes 66 71 69

207Retief Goosen (Rsa) 67 69 71, Jason Dufner 66 73 68, Ernie Els (Rsa) 70 67 70

208Bill Haas 66 73 69, Bo Van Pelt 70 70 68, Matthew Jones (Aus) 65 70 73, Blake Adams 70 68 70

209 Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 64 76 69, Martin Laird (Sco) 66 69 74, Paul Casey (Eng) 66 72 71

210Lucas Glover 70 68 72, Dustin Johnson 73 68 69, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 65 76 69, Jim Furyk 66 73 71, Tim Petrovic 68 71 71, Camilo Villegas (Col) 67 72 71, Ryan Moore 64 76 70, Stephen Ames (Can) 67 68 75

211Nick Watney 69 72 70, Davis Love III 71 69 71, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 67 71 73, Bubba Watson 67 71 73, Rickie Fowler 67 70 74

212Brendon De Jonge 67 72 73, K J Choi (Kor) 69 71 72, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 68 72 72, Tim Clark (Rsa) 69 72 71, Kevin Streelman 69 70 73

213Ricky Barnes 68 71 74, David Toms 67 71 75, Ian Poulter (Eng) 67 73 73, Josh Teater 68 70 75, Jason Bohn 67 74 72, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 70 71 72

214Robert Allenby (Aus) 69 70 75, Shaun Micheel 68 71 75, Heath Slocum 68 72 74

215Charles Howell III 68 70 77

216Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 71 70 75, Paul Goydos 68 73 75, Marc Leishman (Aus) 71 68 77

219Garrett Willis 70 71 78