Graeme McDowell and Jim Furyk were the only two players left under par after the third round of the US Open in San Francisco.
Graeme McDowell and Jim Furyk were the only two players left under par after the third round of the US Open in San Francisco.
The American and the Northern Irishman lie on one under par, Furyk after another solid 70 and McDowell after a superb two-under-par 68 over the treacherous Olympic Club.
Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson lies alone in third on one over, two shots back after a 68, while England's Lee Westwood (67), Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts (71), South African Ernie Els (68) and American Blake Adams (70) all follow a further shot back.
As for Tiger Woods, he fell off the pace on Saturday with a third-round 75 that leaves him on four over par, five shots back - a big deficit on a course like this one.
McDowell picked up his first US Open title at Pebble Beach two years ago and has now given himself an excellent chance of picking up another. It would be the third Northern Irish US Open win in a row, after Rory McIlroy followed up McDowell's 2010 win last year.
After eight straight pars and a bogey on the ninth, McDowell responded with birdies at the 10th, 13th and 18th on the back nine.
"The ninth was a wake-up call. I realised my swing was getting quick and snatchy," he said.
"Then the save on the 12th was huge. I thought I was in the bushes over the green, but making four spurred me on.
"I am firing pretty much on all cylinders. The key is not looking at leaderboards.
"It's not just me and Jim. There are a lot of guys who can win."
Three shots off the pace and still hunting his first major win is Lee Westwood, whose 67 was the joint lowest round of the day.
"I had a lot of fun out there - really enjoyed the day and finished it off nicely," he said.
"If you're hitting the ball well you can give yourself a few chances. I played nice for the first two days without too much reward, but I thought at five over par I was still not out of it.
"I think I've probably been in contention in major championships more than anybody else the last three or four years, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
"The goal was to shoot 67, so I'm pleased with that and I reset a new number now.
"I think every time you get yourself in contention you learn something new, but the main thing is just to go out there and believe that I'm good enough.
"I must be - I keep getting myself in contention often enough.
"I don't take it too seriously. After you've been doing it for 20 seasons out here I think that it's time to relax and give yourself a break and enjoy it. I'm a glass half full-type person."
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