Pádraig Harrington blitzed the back nine at Liberty National to move back into contention at The Barclays in New Jersey last night. The Dubliner bagged five birdies over the last seven holes to move to four under after carding a third round of 67.
That leaves him five shots adrift of joint-leaders Paul Goydos and Steve Marino going into the final 18 holes.
Tiger Woods also moved into contention as he matches Harrington’s 67 to also move to four under. Consecutive birdies at the fifth, sixth and seventh holes set him up for an impressive round, and although he dropped a shot at the par-four 10th, two more birdies moved him onto four under for the tournament.
Marino, though, claimed he would not looking over his shoulder for Woods.
“I don’t think so. You know, I’m sure he’s probably going to play pretty well tomorrow. He always seems to play well on Sundays.
“But I can’t control what he does. I can only control what I do and I feel like if I play well, being five ahead of him, I shouldn’t really have to worry about him.”
Goydos and Marino both hit 68 in the third round to lead by two strokes from Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson, who also carded a 68, and Webb Simpson.
The American youngster, who headed the field after round two, slipped down the leaderboard after a 72.
Steve Stricker and Heath Slocum were also well-placed at six and five under respectively.
Ian Poulter is alongside Woods and Harrington on four under after having to make do with a 70 after ending his round in disappointing fashion with bogeys on the 16th and 18th, although he did birdie the 17th.
Americans Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar were the other two players on four under.
SCOREBOARD
(USA unless stated, par 71)
204Steve Marino 65 71 68, Paul Goydos 65 71 68
206Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 66 72 68, Webb Simpson 66 68 72
207Steve Stricker 69 70 68
208Heath Slocum 66 72 70
209Tiger Woods 70 72 67, Zach Johnson 70 72 67, Ian Poulter (Eng) 67 72 70, Matt Kuchar 68 73 68,
Padraig Harrington (Irl)67 75 67
210Nick Watney 68 73 69, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 68 73 69, Ernie Els (Rsa) 72 68 70, Bo Van Pelt 70 74 66, Greg Owen (Eng) 71 74 65
211Charley Hoffman 66 74 71, Bill Haas 72 70 69, Troy Matteson 71 71 69, Scott Verplank 73 70 68, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 71 72 68
212Hunter Mahan 72 72 68, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 68 71 73, Jim Furyk 69 73 70, Robert Allenby (Aus) 68 75 69, Tim Clark (Rsa) 71 70 71
213Brian Gay 70 72 71, David Toms 67 75 71, Lee Janzen 68 75 70, Stewart Cink 70 72 71, Jonathan Byrd 72 74 67, Jason Day (Aus) 70 73 70
214Justin Rose (Eng) 73 72 69, Bill Lunde 70 73 71, Mike Weir (Can) 71 71 72, Brandt Snedeker 72 75 67
215D.A. Points 70 71 74, J.B. Holmes 73 73 69, Justin Leonard 68 75 72, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 65 76 74, Luke Donald (Eng) 73 69 73, Kevin Streelman 68 78 69
216Kevin Na 73 72 71, Ben Crane 74 73 69, Vaughn Taylor 71 76 69, John Senden (Aus) 72 73 71, Cameron Beckman 70 72 74, Harrison Frazar 73 71 72, John Mallinger 74 72 70, Fred Couples 71 76 69
217Chris Riley 72 75 70, Davis Love III 70 75 72, Dustin Johnson 70 74 73, Kenny Perry 71 75 71, Chad Campbell 72 75 70, John Rollins 71 73 73, Anthony Kim 75 71 71, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 77 69 71, Bob Estes 73 74 70
218Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 74 74, Charles Howell III 76 70 72
219Adam Scott (Aus) 75 72 72, James Nitties (Aus) 71 75 73, Mark Wilson 72 75 72, Phil Mickelson 70 75 74, Charlie Wi (Kor) 73 73 73, J J Henry 72 73 74, Brett Quigley 70 77 72, Tim Petrovic 69 76 74, Boo Weekley 75 70 74
220Jeff Overton 72 71 77, Kevin Sutherland 69 76 75, Alex Cejka (Ger) 71 72 77
222Jerry Kelly 72 74 76
223Joe Ogilvie 73 72 78, Ryan Moore 68 78 77
224Todd Hamilton 71 74 79
