GOLF: Rich Beem was poised to land his first major title when an eagle on the 11th and a birdie on 13th set him up for one of the great upsets in the US PGA at Hazeltine.

Beem held his nerve despite an early Tiger Woods onslaught and was five shots clear with five holes to play on 11 under par.

Behind him were some illustrious names, including Jason Leonard, Chris Riley and Fred Funk (all six under) with Woods a shot back on five under.

On the eight occasions that Woods had previously won a major title, he had gone into the final round as the leader - and nobody, but nobody, could shift him from his preordained destiny. Yesterday, it was different. The world's number one started out five shots behind third round leader Justin Leonard, and with two others ahead of him, and sought to win the hard way.

But the fear that Woods can put in to even the bravest of men soon became evident. Indeed, after his third round, and aware of the distance that lay between himself and Tiger, Leonard remarked: "Does he intimidate me? Sure, at times he does. But he hasn't done it this time and, if I go out and do my job, he won't."

In fact, on a day when conditions of little wind and sunshine, and none of the thunderstorms that marred earlier rounds, Woods, having lurked for long enough, pounced and made a charge that put him in contention for his third major of the season, to add to his US Masters and US Open titles.

On Saturday evening, knowing it would take something special to win, Woods had put on his game face and remarked: "All I have to do is play well, makes putts. It's really no big secret. There's only a few guys ahead of me."

By the time he had reached the turn in the final round, Woods had moved level - on seven-under with Leonard in second place - and trailed new leader Rich Beem by just one shot. Woods had a slow start but once he got his first birdie of the day, at the fourth, the charge gathered momentum. He grabbed another birdie on the sixth and, having reached the long par five seventh in two, he two-putted from the fringe for another birdie.

In contrast, Leonard, who has remodelled his swing in the past two years under the guidance, ironically enough, of Butch Harmon, Woods's coach, began to unravel. Leonard, the 1997 British Open champion, and seeking his second career major, started the day with a three-shot lead over Beem but he had a nervous start and bogeyed the second. By the time he got to the eighth tee, he was back on level par for the day - and level with Beem - but then pulled his tee shot into the water and suffered a double bogey five and dropped another shot on the ninth, leaving Beem as leader at the turn, a shot clear of Woods.

Thunderstorms on Friday evening had forced 41 players to complete their rounds on Saturday, and five players - Leonard, Beem, Funk, Mark Calcavecchia and Retief Goosen - shared the midway lead. Unlike yesterday, when there was hardly a breath of wind, the third round was hampered by swirling gusts of up to 40 miles per hour. Four tee markers were moved forward, including the 16th where the carry over Lake Hazletine was reduced to 176 yards from 224.

At that stage, the Irish involvement had been reduced to one player from an initial three. Paul McGinley, among those who failed to get finished on Friday when lightning halted play, joined Darren Clarke, who knew his fate the previous night, among those who missed the cut. Padraig Harrington did make the cut, but very nearly didn't make it to the tee for his third round.

While finishing his warm-up routine on the range, he hit a three-wood and felt a crack all the way down his vertebrae. He was required to undergo on-course treatment from his physical therapist Dale Richardson and, despite further treatment, was still visibly affected by his sore neck when he arrived at the course yesterday.

Unfortunately for Harrington, the lofty targets he set himself prior to the championship were readjusted in midstream. Firstly, he had to contend with the recurrence of an old ankle injury and, then, the back injury that very nearly had him pulling out. "He told me that he'd see how it went for three or four holes, and that if it didn't improve he would withdraw," said caddie Dave McNeilly. Thanks to treatment from Richardson, who walked the course with him, he was able to finish; and was deemed fit enough to continue yesterday.

However, while Sergio Garcia finished with a closing 68 for one-over-par 289, to leave him in position to finish as leading European for the second major in succession, Harrington - with a restricted swing and, more irritatingly, unable to look towards the hole when lining up his putt - struggled to make inroads.

Despite collecting a birdie on the second, where he holed from 12 feet, he dropped a shot at the third when over-hitting the green. After getting another birdie at the sixth, he then suffered a double bogey on the seventh and his final round had developed into a real battle.

However, he dismissed an inclination to withdraw from next week's NEC Invitational, not alone because it is a $5 million tournament, but because it is the best place to get further treatment from Richardson.