Many on Tiger's tail

Woods leads, but Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia and Chris DiMarco are right behind.
HOYLAKE, England (AP) -- Tiger Woods gazed across green and brown splotches of grass and tried desperately to gauge the speed of his putts, each mistake costing him a chance to turn the British Open into another runaway.
A chance for eagle turned into par. What looked like a birdie became a bogey.
His only consolation Saturday after rapping in a 3-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at Royal Liverpool for a 1-under 71 was seeing his name atop the leaderboard, knowing that he has never lost any of the previous 10 majors when he took the lead into the last round.
Even so, the gentle wind off the Irish Sea carried renewed hope for Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els and an all-star cast chasing him.
They all knew it could have been worse.
So did Woods.
"Just take away my three-putts, I would have a four-shot lead," Woods said.
Paired with Garcia
Instead, he was at 13-under 203 and will be in the final group with Garcia, who blistered the sun-baked links for a 65 to give him his best chance ever to capture a major.
Garcia holed out a 9-iron from 167 yards for eagle on No. 2, took only 29 shots on the outward nine and never faded. It will be his first time in the final group of a major since he was four shots behind Woods in the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black.
"I did what I had to do to give myself a chance," Garcia said.
Everyone else did just enough to turn this British Open into a wide-open affair.
Also at 12-under 204 was Chris DiMarco, who overcame consecutive bogeys at the turn by making three straight birdies. DiMarco, who lost a playoff to Woods at the 2005 Masters, had a chance to join him in the lead until his fairway metal to the 18th green got stuck behind a pot bunker, forcing him to play away from the flag.
And don't forget the Big Easy.
Els stays in contention
Els, in the final pairing with Woods at a major for the first time in six years, struggled with his irons but refused to allow himself to fall too far behind. He picked up birdies on the par-5 16th and 18th holes for a 71, leaving him in the three-way tie for second.
Woods might be 10-0 when he has at least a share of the 54-hole lead in majors, but in half of those victories he led by at least three shots.
Reminded of Woods' perfect record, DiMarco wasn't interested.
"Stats don't lie. Obviously, he's a pretty good front-runner, and usually he's got a five- or six-shot lead," DiMarco said. "Tomorrow, he has a one-shot lead. You would have thought he'd be 4 or 5 under right now, and he's not.
"But the guy has a knack for winning, so it's going to be tough to beat him."
Also in the hunt
Another shot back at 11-under 205 was former U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk (66) and Angel Cabrera, who also shot 66.
"I know I'm in the last group. And I've got a one-shot lead," Woods said. "And hopefully, tomorrow I can play like the way I did today and just putt a little better."
The dry conditions have left splotches of brown on the greens, making it roll quicker and giving Woods fits Saturday.
It started on the par-5 10th, when Woods gave himself a 25-foot eagle putt. He ran it about 3 1/2 feet by, and pulled the next one, gritting his teeth as he headed to the next tee. He answered with a birdie from 18 feet on No. 11 to build a two-shot lead, and it looked like it might get larger when his 20-foot birdie on the 14th caught the edge of the cup.
But it spun out and trickled 4 feet by, and Woods again missed the hole on his par putt.
He lost the lead again on the 17th when his 40-foot putt from the back of the green came up 6 feet short.
"You really had to watch your pace, because obviously every green is just a slightly different speed," he said.
Could have been better
Garcia had a few problems of his own, missing a 6-foot birdie on the 17th that might have sent him to a course record. He had another birdie putt from the same distance on No. 11 that he left short.
"They're getting quite crispy and quite brown, and it's tough to get the speed right all of the time," he said.
Els could easily have fallen away, especially on No. 7. He hit driver off the tee and into a gorse bush, having to take a penalty drop. Then, he hit into a pot bunker near the sodden wall. He blasted out to 15 feet and escaped with bogey, and limited the damage until he found his swing again.
He will play with Furyk in the pairing ahead of Woods-Garcia, very much in range of a fourth major.
"We're still in contention, it's a major championship," Els said. "A lot can happen tomorrow."
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