World No. 1 Tiger Woods heads the field by ten shots at eight under par after 3 rounds at Pebble Beach, and holds what will surely prove to be an unassailable lead as he heads unerringly towards his first US Open Championship title.
Woods is now the only player under par, and is followed by a host of European Tour Members. South African Ernie Els, who shot the only sub-par score in the third round, is his nearest challenger at a total of two over par, followed by Padraig Harrington of Ireland and Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain a shot further back.
In all, there are seven European Tour Members in the top 11, with Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal in joint fifth place with Phil Mickelson on four over par, Lee Westwood in joint seventh, and a resurgent Nick Faldo in joint ninth position together with Michael Campbell of New Zealand.
After leading by a record six strokes at the halfway stage, equalling the lowest-ever 36-hole aggregate of 134, Woods added a third round level par 71 to smash the previous 54-hole record of seven by James Barnes in 1921.
The supremacy of Woods during the first three days should not hide the fact that this year’s championship has been an excellent event for the strong European Tour contingent that made its way across the Atlantic. A total of 14 out of the 19 European Tour members in attendance survived the halfway cut that fell at 8-over par 150, the European Tour members who missed out being Jean van de Velde, Jesper Parnevik, Jarmo Sandelin, Bernhard Langer and Greg Norman.
