Tiger slumps to 75 after whiste interruption

Tiger Woods's U.S. Open challenge was left in tatters on Saturday after a rude interruption from the galleries and six bogeys completed a nightmare third round for the defending champion.

Woods was fuming after a spectator's untimely whistle broke his focus on the first hole of the day, a wretched moment which set the tone for the wayward American as he carded a 75 to slip to one over par for the tournament -- five over for the round.

Signalling his unhappiness with negative body language throughout, the world number one -- seeking his third U.S. Open crown in four years -- finished 11 shots off leader Jim Furyk at the south Chicago course.

"I have no idea if (the whistle) was intentional," Woods told reporters.

"It came on my downswing, and you can't stop that.

"It was a frustrating way of starting ... but I made nothing out there. You can't get any momentum because you're not making putts.

"It was one of the those days ... but it was frustrating."

If he fails to mount a successful comeback on Sunday, it will be the first time in four years that he is without a major title to defend.

But he said: "That means I've had a pretty darn good career, haven't I?

"Obviously I need to shoot a great round (on Sunday) and get some help from the leaders, too."

Woods' travails were in stark contrast to the smooth four-under-par second round 66 on Friday which had put him in contention.

Yet with his short game awry and his judgement of the course's speed thoroughly confused, the 27-year-old also brought some of the trouble on himself.

His hopes for an assault on the lead began to unravel almost immediately after the eight-times major winner had soaked up warm applause from his fans on the sunny Olympia Fields venue.

He was well into his swing on his second shot at the first hole when a whistle pierced the silence and Woods could only watch his ball land in a front bunker on the par-five test.

He dropped the club in disgust and turned round, hands on hips, to stare at the gallery in search of the culprit, before returning to the task in hand to complete a steady par.

But if the incident stoked Woods's emotions, he could not use it to his advantage.

At the par-four fifth, an errant approach flew through the back of the green and Woods's continued exasperation was evident as he bent double to rest his hands on his knees.

His concern was justified, for he two-putted from 20 feet to suffer his first bogey to go one over for the day.

Woods was then cut further adrift at the ninth when his par putt from six feet lipped out, and his scowl intensified just one hole later at the 10th.

He left himself a 20-foot putt just to save par, but sent the ball to the right of the hole to go one under par for the tournament.

By the 13th hole, Woods was hauled back to level par with another missed putt.

"The greens looked fast but it was unbelievable how slow they played," Woods said.

"I had a hard time convincing myself to hit (the putts) hard ... It's a mental war to try and get myself to release the putter blade like I'm supposed to."

Suddenly, on the 14th green, one did manage to drop and Woods, acknowledging the irony, broke into a wry smile for his audience.

But two successive bogeys on the 15th and 16th soon wiped that off his face again.