Woods in contention, Singh in lead in Illinois

Phil Mickelson dropped out of the picture.
LEMONT, Ill. (AP) -- Tiger Woods smiled and laughed as he walked off the course.
He had fun, looked more like his old self and vaulted into contention at the Western Open. All while Vijay Singh grabbed the lead.
Phil Mickelson, meanwhile, dropped out of the picture with a poor third round at Cog Hill Saturday.
Singh is at 11-under 202 for the tournament -- two strokes ahead of Carl Pettersson, Mathew Goggin, Stewart Cink, Trevor Immelman and Joe Ogilvie.
Leader's round
Singh shot an even 35 on the front nine but birdied three holes after the turn, including No. 17, to finish the round at 3-under 68. He was two strokes off the lead when the day began.
"At the beginning of the round, I couldn't get the pace of the greens," Singh said. "I didn't make too many mistakes, just hung in there and took my chances when they presented themselves."
Woods was tied with defending champion Jim Furyk and Scott Gutschewski at 8 under, three shots behind Singh, after a 66 on the par-71 course.
Mickelson shot 75 Saturday and was 3 over for the tournament.
Daniel Chopra, the surprise leader at 10 under after two rounds, shot a 76 and was at 5 under for the tournament, six strokes off Singh's pace.
Woods continued to rebound after missing the cut at the U.S. Open and shooting 1-over 72 on Thursday. A 67 on Friday put him at 3 under heading into the third round and set the stage for his leap toward the top of the leaderboard.
Eagles No. 11
Woods birdied three of the first five holes Saturday. After a bogey on 10, he eagled the par-5 11th. A bogey on 14 put him at 3 under for the day, but he birdied the next two holes.
"It was nice to actually make some putts and piece together something out there because, obviously, my last tournament I didn't do that," said Woods, a three-time winner at Cog Hill.
Woods took nine weeks off before the U.S. Open -- brought on by the May 3 death of his father -- and was in danger of missing the cut again after the first round of the Western. He has fielded question after question about his father's death, about how it impacted his performance.
And it got old.
"Everyone wants to say nice things, which people have done, and everyone also wants to analyze everything, too," Woods said. "I think that goes with the territory of being in the position I've been in on the PGA tour."
Woods did some analyzing, too.
Extra time
He put in extra time on the range the past few days, and the work paid off. His putting improved. His irons were better.
Mickelson, however, was all over the place.
Playing his first tournament since his final-hole collapse cost him the U.S. Open, Mickelson was one stroke off the lead at 4 under after Thursday's opening round but carded a 74 on Friday. He was 1 over through the front nine Saturday, 2 over after bogeying the par-3 12th, and 3 over after a bogey on the par-5 15th. Mickelson birdied No. 17 but finished with a double-bogey on 18.
His approach on the final hole sailed wide right and settled between a bunker and the rope. His next shot landed in the sand.
Mickelson looked and sounded the past few days like a man treating this event as four practice rounds for the British Open. He visited Royal Liverpool a few days after the U.S. Open.
"There's plenty of time to get sharp," Mickelson said.
For Woods there is no better time than this weekend.
"Right now, I'm trying to get a 'W,' " Woods said. "I've always thought that was the best way to prepare for any major championship."
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