June 18, 2007	Monday	Jumadi-us-Sani 02, 1428

OAKMONT (Pennsylvania), June 17: Australian Aaron Baddeley burst out of a four-way tie on Saturday to grab a two-stroke lead over Tiger Woods going into the final round of the US Open at Oakmont.

The 26-year-old Baddeley made back-to-back birdies from the 12th to seize the lead, then bounced back from bogeys at 15 and 16 with a birdie at the last to post an even-par 70 and a two-over-par 212 total.

Woods, playing a near-perfect round from tee to green, took five on the 484-yard 18th for his only bogey in a rock steady round of one-under-par 69 to stand at four-over 214.

Officials watered the hard, sloping greens before the start and the demanding Oakmont course played two shots easier than it had on Friday, with the average score 74.68 on Saturday.

Conditions allowed players to shoot more aggressively to the greens and the flow of birdies and bogeys made for a see-saw struggle on the leaderboard.

Second-round leader Angel Cabrera of Argentina and American Bubba Watson duelled early in the round, with Woods among a pack of players tight on their heels before Baddeley surged ahead.

Knotted in third place at five over par, three strokes off the pace, were Britons Paul Casey (72) and Justin Rose (73), Canadian Stephen Ames (73) and American Bubba Watson (74).

A shot further back were Americans Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk, the 2003 champion, and second-round leader Cabrera, who finished with two bogeys for a 76.

Australian Geoff Ogilvy, who won last year's Open at Winged Foot, fell out of contention with a 78 that put him 12 shots back.

Woods had birdies at the third and fourth holes and saw numerous other birdie putts that could have shot him into the lead slide just past the cup.

The world No 1, chasing his 13th major title, was the last in the field to post a bogey on the warm, humid day.

Completed third-round scores on Saturday:

212 – Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 72, 70, 70.

214 – Tiger Woods (US) 71, 74, 69.

215 – Paul Casey (Britain) 77, 66, 72; Stephen Ames (Canada) 73, 69, 73; Justin Rose (Britain) 71, 71, 73; Bubba Watson (US) 70, 71, 74.

216 – Steve Stricker (US) 75, 73, 68; Jim Furyk (US) 71, 75, 70; Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 69, 71, 76.

217 – Stuart Appleby (Australia) 74, 72, 71; David Toms (US) 72, 72, 73; Niclas Fasth (Sweden) 71, 71, 75.

218 – Vijay Singh (Fiji) 71, 77, 70; Jeff Brehaut (US) 73, 75, 70; Jerry Kelly (US) 74, 71, 73; Scott Verplank (US) 73, 71, 74.

219 – Tim Clark (South Africa) 72, 76, 71; Michael Putnam (US) 73, 74 72; Hunter Mahan (US) 73, 74, 72; Mike Weir (Canada) 74, 72, 73; Lee Janzen (US) 73, 73, 73; Nick Dougherty (Britain) 68, 77, 74; Carl Pettersson (Sweden) 72, 72, 75; Tom Pernice Jr (US) 72, 72, 75.

220 – Graeme McDowell (Britain) 73, 72, 75.

221 – Nick O'Hern (Australia) 76, 74, 71; Ian Poulter (Britain) 72, 77, 72; Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 75, 73, 73; Brandt Snedeker (US) 71, 73, 77.

222 – Chris DiMarco (US) 76, 73, 73; Ken Duke (US) 74, 75, 73; Harrison Frazar (US) 74, 74, 74; D.J. Brigman (US) 74, 74, 74; Chad Campbell (US) 73, 72, 77.

223 – Jeev Milkha Singh (India) 75, 75, 73; John Rollins (US) 75, 74, 74; Ernie Els (South Africa) 73, 76, 74; Fred Funk (US) 71, 78, 74; Peter Hanson (Sweden) 71, 74, 78.

224 – Mathew Goggin (Australia) 77, 73, 74; J.J. Henry (US) 71, 78, 75; Pablo Martin (Spain) 71, 76, 77; Boo Weekley (US) 72, 75, 77; Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 71, 75, 78.

225 – Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 73, 77, 75; Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 73, 77, 75; George McNeill (US) 72, 76, 77; Shingo Katayama (Japan) 72, 74, 79; Jason Dufner (US) 71, 75, 79.

226 – Zach Johnson (US) 76, 74, 76; Dean Wilson (US) 76, 74, 76; Charles Howell III (US) 76, 73, 77; Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 70, 78, 78; Ben Curtis (US) 71, 77, 78; Lee Westwood (Britain) 72, 75, 79; Olin Browne (US) 71, 75, 80.

227 – Bob Estes (US) 75, 75, 77; Marcus Fraser (Australia) 72, 78, 77; Kenneth Ferrie (Britain) 74, 76, 77; Anthony Kim (US) 74, 73, 80.

228 – Rory Sabbatini (South Africa) 73, 77, 78.

229 – Anders Hansen (Denmark) 71, 79, 79; Kevin Sutherland (US) 74, 76, 79.—Reuters