Houston Open:Lee Westwood's hopes of a first US title in 12 years were almost derailed as the Englishman endured a nightmare finish to his front nine in the third round of the Shell Houston Open. Like Ireland's Pádraig Harrington, who remains on six under, he posted a level-par 72 and is one shot ahead of the Dubliner, three adrift of the outright lead share by Anthony Kim and Bryce Molder.
Westwood, whose only PGA Tour victory came in New Orleans at the 1998 Freeport-McDermott Classic, had been well poised at the halfway mark after a second-round, four-under-par 68 at Redstone Golf Club in Humble, Texas, had left the 36-year-old European number one two shots behind 36-hole leader Molder.
The world number four's third round did not go according to plan, however, after he finished his front nine with a double bogey, par, bogey and triple bogey.
Westwood, however, did well to recover on the back nine, steadying himself with birdies at the 10th, 12th and 13th before finishing with two birdies at 17 and 18 to post a level-par 72, seven under for the week and still only three shots off the 54-hole lead shared by Molder and fellow American Anthony Kim.
Another American, Joe Ogilvie, had been making a big move at the top of the leaderboard, 11 under on his back nine, four under for his round with three holes to play before a double bogey, par, bogey finish sent him back to eight under, tied for third with Vaughn Taylor.
Westwood, American Jeff Maggert and Canada's Graham DeLaet were on seven under with Harrington at six under after a rollercoaster round that featured an eagle, four birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey.
Former Open champion Justin Leonard and South Africa's Charl Schwartzel had the rounds of the day in the clubhouse so far, both carding 67s to join Harrington and Americans Matt Kuchar and Kevin Sutherland at six under.
England's Justin Rose bounced back from a level-par second round to shoot a 70 and move to four under alongside Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson, who shot a 69.
World number three Phil Mickelson rebounded from a far worse second-round 76 with a 70 to get to one under while Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen's 73 left him at even par for the week, as was Germany's Alex Cejka (71) and Scotland's Martin Laird, who fell away with a third-round 76.
South Africa's Ernie Els was also going backwards having shot a 70 then a 74 in the wake of back-to-back wins in Florida at Doral and Bay Hill. Els posted a third-round 75 to slip to three over.
Collated third round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour Shell Houston Open, Redstone GC, Humble, Houston, Texas, United States of America
(USA unless stated, Irish in bold, par 72):
206Bryce Molder 69 66 71, Anthony Kim 68 69 69
208Vaughn Taylor 68 70 70, Joe Ogilvie 70 67 71
209Jeff Maggert 70 69 70, Graham Delaet (Can) 71 67 71, Lee Westwood (Eng) 69 68 72
210Justin Leonard 69 74 67, Omar Uresti 69 69 72, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 71 72 67, Kevin Sutherland 68 73 69, Matt Kuchar 69 72 69, Cameron Percy (Aus) 67 69 74, Pádraig Harrington (Irl) 69 69 72
211Kevin Stadler 67 70 74, Adam Scott (Aus) 69 70 72, Roland Thatcher 70 71 70, Bubba Watson 73 67 71, James Driscoll 68 70 73, Josh Teater 73 69 69
212Steve Marino 70 71 71, Chad Campbell 70 72 70, Justin Rose (Eng) 70 72 70, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 73 70 69, Alex Prugh 70 66 76
213Spencer Levin 71 72 70, John Rollins 73 72 68, Blake Adams 73 72 68, Jason Bohn 70 72 71, Shaun Micheel 70 73 70
214Brendon De Jonge 72 74 68, Chris Tidland 72 72 70, Bob Estes 73 70 71, Michael Allen 71 72 71, Paul Goydos 72 70 72, D.J. Trahan 78 66 70
215Tag Ridings 73 70 72, Michael Connell 71 71 73, Ricky Barnes 73 71 71, Phil Mickelson 69 76 70, Chris Wilson 73 73 69, Ben Crane 75 68 72, J J Henry 74 72 69, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 74 71 70
216David Lutterus (Rsa) 74 71 71, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 71 72 73, Chris Riley 71 72 73, Jeff Overton 76 67 73, Lucas Glover 73 68 75, Woody Austin 70 71 75, Alex Cejka (Ger) 72 73 71, Martin Laird (Sco) 70 70 76, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 70 72 74, Rich Barcelo 75 69 72
217D.A. Points 71 71 75, Ben Curtis 73 71 73, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 71 75 71
218Scott McCarron 73 73 72, John Merrick 72 72 74, Johnson Wagner 71 73 74, Webb Simpson 75 71 72
219Ernie Els (Rsa) 70 74 75, J.P. Hayes 72 71 76, Brett Wetterich 73 70 76, Rickie Fowler 72 71 76, Christopher Baryla (Can) 71 73 75
220Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 73 73 74, Tim Petrovic 77 68 75, Garrett Willis 72 73 75
222Scott Piercy 71 75 76, Simon Dyson (Eng) 73 71 78, Fred Couples 71 73 78
223Brian Stuard 70 75 78, Rich Beem 71 74 78, Jimmy Walker 73 72 78, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 71 75 77, Nicholas Thompson 69 76 78
224Andrew Svoboda 73 73 78, Matt Bettencourt 72 72 80, Derek Lamely 73 73 78