Tiger Woods back in hunt with 66

Tiger Woods shook off the disappointment of his first two days at the U.S. PGA Championship, firing a four-under-par 66 in Saturday's third round to climb within eight strokes of leader Phil Mickelson.

Woods, who had to birdie his last hole on Friday to make the cut, could have climbed even closer but had to settle for pars on the two finishing par-fives to finish at even-par 210 on another sweltering day at Baltusrol.

Mickelson, scheduled to tee off at 3:00 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT), held a three-shot lead over unheralded American Jerry Kelly going into the third round.

"It's disappointing because I had opportunities on the back nine and could've been three shots better," said Woods, who had come to Baltusrol in the hunt for his third major win of the season after victories at the U.S. Masters and British Open.

The world number one, one of the earliest starters, bogeyed the first hole but dropped no other shots to par on a day where the temperature was expected to approach 100 degrees F (38 C).

He birdied the fifth, ninth and 10th holes and then registered back-to-back birdies from the 14th and appeared poised to go under the 65 shot by Mickelson and Kelly on Friday for the tournament's low round.

At the mammoth 650-yard 18th, he tried to reach the green in two to give himself a chance at eagle. His second shot, however, landed under a spectator's chair behind the left greenside bunker. He chipped on but needed two putts and took par.

On 18, he flew a seven-iron about 25 feet past the hole. His bold attempt at eagle ran some 10 feet past and his birdie putt fell away at the cup.

Many top names were in closer striking distance of Mickelson.

Former PGA champion Davis Love, European Ryder Cup player Lee Westwood of Britain and South African Rory Sabbatini were tied for third place at four-under-par 136, four shots off the pace.

Defending champion Vijay Singh, the world number two, was lurking another shot back after his second-round 67 brought him to 137.

Level with the Fijian were twice British Open runner-up Jesper Parnevik of Sweden, Australian Stuart Appleby, Briton Greg Owen and Japan's Shingo Katayama, who shot up the leaderboard after a second-round 66.

Mickelson, who broke through at the U.S. Masters last year for his first major title, on Friday set himself up for a run at notching a second major with a rousing 65 that included seven birdies and an eagle.

"It's up to Phil and the rest of the guys," Woods, 29, said about his chances at making a final-round run at the title.

"If they go out and shoot a round in the mid-60s, I will be hard pressed to win this tournament," he said.

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