Costly day for Lefty as Tiger leads

Ford Championship: It was bad enough for Phil Mickelson that he came off second best once more in a duel with Tiger Woods in the third round of the Ford Championship at Doral but the day also cost Lefty $200.

A fan had his watch broken by Mickelson’s wayward shot on the 10th hole and on seeing what he had done the left-hander went to his golf bag, pulled out two $100 notes and handed them over.

The two American stars were joint leaders at the halfway stage, but after trailing with six holes to play defending champion Woods produced a hat-trick of birdies while Mickelson had two bogeys.

That five-stroke swing meant Woods went into the final day at 17-under par, two ahead of Swede Daniel Chopra and former US PGA champion Rich Beem, while Mickelson dropped to joint sixth and was left with four shots to make up.

In the 36 times Woods has taken at least a share of top spot into the last round on the US Tour he has lost on only three occasions.

"If you’re leading you’re usually playing pretty good," said the world number one. "So you’ve always got to think that way.

"Hey, I’ve always liked being in the lead because if you do make a mistake, you have that opportunity to rectify it and still win a golf tournament. Coming from four or five back, you make a mistake you’re not going to win.

"As far as Phil and myself, everyone has this whole idea that we’re trying to play against each other, but we were just trying to put ourselves in position."

Thanks to an amazing putt of nearly 70 feet on the final green Chopra was the one paired with Woods for the closing 18 holes and it was bound to be a huge test for the 32-year-old.

Best remembered on the European circuit for being a "Star Trek" fanatic, Chopra is in his third season on the US Tour and has had nothing better than a fourth-place finish so far.

His main claim to fame remains being the first person to hit a golf ball off the Great Wall of China - that was back in 1995 - but he said: "It’s okay, I’ve played with Tiger before.

"You just have to get comfortable and realise you’re not playing the name, you’re playing a person. He’s a human being and you can’t change what you’re doing. It doesn’t matter to me. In order to win, I’m going to have to shoot one hell of a round. So if I play well, maybe I can feed off that big crowd."

Beem does have a good memory to draw on. He and Woods battled down the stretch for the US PGA crown four years ago and he was the one to come out on top.

"The great thing about today is it was not the last day," Mickelson said of his disappointing third round 72, which finished with him going in the water on the 18th and saving a bogey with a 16-foot putt.

"I know that obviously he’s playing well, but because it was not the final round I wasn’t really concerned. I should be now - I’m four back."

Woods recovered from double bogeying the short ninth, yet his lead would have been only one but for Colombian rookie Camilo Villegas double-bogeying the last.

Davis Love, meanwhile, moved up from 25th to ninth after rushing to the first tee. He thought his tee-off time was 11.40am when it was in fact 11.14am. He was in the fitness trailer when he realised the mistake, rushed out - and eagled the opening hole.

Greg Owen’s pairing with Padraig Harrington did not attract the crowd Woods v Mickelson did, but they scored 68 and 69 respectively to be 15th and 20th with a round to go. David Howell improved to eight under, a stroke behind Harrington, by also returning a 69.