World number two Phil Mickelson still believes he is in with a chance at winning the US Open going into the final day of play.
The American, playing his final tournament before taking some time out to look after his wife Amy, who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, is five shots behind joint leaders Lucas Glover and Ricky Barnes and will be searching for some momentum to kick-start his final round.
“If there were 30 people in front of me, it would be different - I would have to shoot eight, nine, ten under par to have a chance or two. But I feel that if I get a hot round going, and get a little bit of momentum, then absolutely I feel I can make up the difference,” Mickelson told reporters.
“Having won a couple of Majors is nice. I’m confidence and I’m able to be patience much easier in a challenge event like this. I’m not forcing it and I was able to shoot a round today despite not playing flawless.”
In contrast, poor form with his putter has Mickelson’s rival, Tiger Woods, struggling seven strokes off the lead
“My ball striking was ok, but I didn’t make any putts,” Woods conceded.
“I did make a putt on three but that was about it, but, as was the case all week, I hit the ball a lot better than my score indicates and unfortunately I just haven’t made the putts this week.
“Consequently I am, as of right now, well back.”
Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson, for their part, are tied for 19th along with England’s Oliver Wilson and have different targets that the top two in the world.
“If I go out [on Monday] and if I can get four birdies in the last eight holes, post two-under-par, you never know,” McIlroy reasoned. “But, we’ll see what happens. If I play tomorrow the way I did for the first ten holes today, I’ll have a good chance of getting into red figures for the tournament.”
Swede Stenson added: “I made a couple of nice birdies. The crowds, they were waiting for us and they were loud so it was good fun the first couple of holes.
“I made a couple of good birdies and a couple of good par saves. Things were going fine until we bumped into the second half of the field on ten. We were stuck there for 20 minutes.”