Big two fall further adrift
Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els had the crowds flocking to see them before the leaders went off in the third round of the US Open at Pinehurst today.
But what the fans saw was the two big stars blowing their hopes of getting back into contention.
First Els, having turned well enough in a one-under-par 34 to improve to six-over, ran up the same double-bogey seven that Colin Montgomerie took on the 607-yard 10th yesterday.
Then Mickelson, six-over at halfway after a second round of 77 which was his worst score in the event since 1994, crashed to a triple-bogey eight on the 565-yard fourth – ranked the easiest hole on the course.
The left-hander, runner-up to Retief Goosen last year and to Payne Stewart when Pinehurst last staged the event six years ago, had already shown that things were not well with his game.
His stated goal was 36 pars and he began with three of them, but they were not all straightforward.
On the first he was in deep rough off the tee, short of the green in two and made a 14-footer and then, after missing a birdie chance from similar range at the next, he drove just short of the green on the 336-yard third, chipped over it, chipped back to eight feet and was relieved to make that.
Montgomerie, meanwhile, remained seven-over with 10 successive pars.
It kept him nine adrift of pacesetters Retief Goosen, Olin Browne and Jason Gore – respectively the defending champion and two Americans ranked 300th and 818th in the world.
Paul McGinley and Graeme McDowell, relieved to be in the event still, were unable to make up ground.
They qualified right on the limit of eight-over thanks to David Toms, who finished double bogey, triple bogey after leading and so got them in under the rule whereby anybody within 10 strokes of the lead stays in the tournament.
McGinley, who was at the airport when he got the news, covered the first 10 holes in level par but then double-bogeyed the next and bogeyed the 12th.
The 10th birdie of the week on the 203-yard 15th did bring him back to 10-over, however, while debutant McDowell was on the same mark following a 72.
Ian Poulter, delighted with a 69 yesterday after an opening 77 left him fuming over a two-foot putt that jumped out of the hole, had two bogeys and a birdie in his first eight holes.
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