Tiger Woods over night clubhouse leader

The war of attrition among the final-round leaders at the U.S. PGA Championship turned Tiger Woods into an unexpected contender on Sunday at the season's final major championship.

Woods, who came to Baltusrol Golf Club aiming for an historic third major title of the year, birdied his last two holes for a 68 and a two-under-par total of 278.

It appeared Woods had merely turned his miserable opening 75 into a respectable finish, yet the world number one was tied for fourth, two shots behind Phil Mickelson when play was suspended until Monday morning because of lightning in the area.

Mickelson stood at four under after 13 holes when play was halted with five more to go in his quest for a second major title after his breakthrough at the 2004 U.S. Masters.

Tied at three under were Australian Steve Elkington, the 1995 U.S. PGA champion, and Thomas Bjorn of Denmark, seeking to become the first European to win the tournament since Scotland-born Tommy Armour 75 years ago.

Elkington had finished 15 holes and Bjorn was through 14.

Woods was shaky once again over the tough opening holes at Baltusrol, taking bogey at the first and third to lie two over after six.

He thought it was going to get even worse before he sank what he called a "miracle" shot at the par-four seventh.

There, with one foot planted in the bunker, he slashed the ball out of the greenside rough from an awkward stance and the ball banged into the stick and down the hole for par.

"That was a miracle, fluke shot, it should have been about 20 feet past but it went in, so I got lucky," said the 10-times major winner. "From there, I really played some good golf."

Woods birdied the eighth and 14th holes before finishing birdie-birdie on the closing par-fives.

The world number one said his slow starts in each round and inconsistent putting were the elements that kept him down at Baltusrol. However, he refused to second-guess himself.

"If I did that, I'd be in some mental ward," said Woods, who failed to birdie either of the finishing par-fives on Saturday.

"Every guy who's played golf had done a 'what if', especially out here on the tour. You'd drive yourself crazy.

"You just have to take a learning experience from it."

Woods realised he still had an outside chance for the title.

"I'll stay around and watch," he said as Elkington took the lead and then relinquished it to Mickelson. "You don't know what's going to happen out there. It's getting harder and faster."

Woods gave a great run at eagle on the mammoth, 650-yard 17th hole when he smashed a searing two-iron for his second shot that came within a whisker of hitting the stick only to bound through the green to the back fringe.

"At the closing holes, I felt if I could go 4-3 somehow, it would look pretty good," said the 29-year-old American.

Woods came within one stroke of his goal. Still, he was proud of his season of majors that brought him the U.S. Masters and British Open crowns and a second place at the U.S. Open.

"I had a wonderful four tournaments," he said. "I won two and I was close in one and I don't know about the other one yet."

Woods made it clear, however, that finishing other than first did not bring joy.

"Any time you lose, you're not happy," he said. "If you're a happy loser there's something wrong with you."

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