TULSA (Oklahoma), Aug 12: Tiger Woods extended his lead at the US PGA Championship on Saturday to three strokes over Canadian Stephen Ames, taking dead aim on claiming his 13th major title.

Woods, who held a two-shot overnight advantage, posted a one-under-par 69 for a seven-under-par 203 total on another sweltering day at Southern Hills.

Woods, who won last year's US PGA at Medinah by five shots, is 12-for-12 winning major championships when entering the final round with the lead.

The world No 1 registered two birdies against one bogey as he played a solid round, content to watch his rivals slide back and struggle to stay in the hunt.

The top five players on the leaderboard all posted 69s.

Ames rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the difficult 18th hole to move into second place at four-under 206, one stroke better than American Woody Austin, who bogeyed the last.

Australian John Senden was in fourth place at two-under-par 208, with three-time major winner Ernie Els of South Africa next at 209 as only five players finished 54 holes under par.

Local favorite Scott Verplank, playing alongside Woods, double-bogeyed the par-four 12th as Woods made birdie, starting a plunge that put him seven shots behind after a four-over 74.

In contrast to Friday's exhilarating 63 that tied the lowest round ever shot in a major championship, Woods played a workmanlike 18 holes on Saturday.

The 31-year-old American birdied the fourth and 12th holes and recorded his only bogey at the 223-yard par-three 14th when he needed two putts after blasting out of a greenside bunker.

Completed third-round scores:

203 – Tiger Woods (US) 71, 63, 69.

206 – Stephen Ames (Canada) 68, 69, 69.

207 – Woody Austin (US) 68, 70, 69.

208 – John Senden (Australia) 69, 70, 69.

209 – Ernie Els (South Africa) 72, 68, 69.

210 – Boo Weekley (US) 76, 69, 65; Nathan Green (Australia) 75, 68, 67; K.J. Choi (South Korea) 71, 71, 68; Kevin Sutherland (US) 73, 69, 68; Arron Oberholser (US) 68, 72, 70; Adam Scott (Australia) 72, 68, 70; Scott Verplank (US) 70, 66, 74.211 – Trevor Immelman (South Africa) 75, 70, 66; Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 69, 68, 74.

212 – Peter Hanson (Sweden) 72, 71, 69; Sean O'Hair (US) 70, 72, 70.

213 – Steve Flesch (US) 72, 73, 68; Ken Duke 73, 71, 69; Justin Rose (Britain) 70, 73, 70; Luke Donald (Britain) 72, 71, 70; Anders Hansen (Denmark) 71, 71, 71; Stuart Appleby (Australia) 73, 68, 72; John Daly (US) 67, 73, 73.

214 – Steve Stricker (US) 77, 68, 69; Brandt Snedeker (US) 74, 71, 69; Ian Poulter (Britain) 71, 73, 70; Joe Durant (US) 71, 73, 70; Shaun Micheel (US) 73, 71, 70; Bob Tway (US) 71, 72, 71; Darren Clarke (Britain) 77, 66, 71; Tim Herron (US) 75, 68, 71; Corey Pavin (US) 74, 68, 72; Stewart Cink (US) 72, 70, 72; Heath Slocum (US) 72, 70, 72; Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 69, 73, 72; Troy Matteson (US) 72, 69, 73; Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 69, 71, 74.

215 – Brett Wetterich (US) 74, 71, 70; Richard Green (Australia) 72, 73, 70; Kenny Perry (US) 72, 72, 71; Shingo Katayama (Japan) 76, 67, 72; Retief Goosen (South Africa) 70, 71, 74; Graeme Storm (Britain) 65, 76, 74.

216 – Anthony Kim (US) 73, 72, 71; David Toms (US) 71, 74, 71; Hunter Mahan (US) 71, 73, 72; Rod Pampling (Australia) 70, 74, 72; Nick O'Hern (Australia) 72, 72, 72; Simon Dyson (Britain) 73, 71, 72; Bart Bryant (US) 74, 70, 72; Brett Quigley (US) 76, 67, 73; Will MacKenzie (US) 72, 70, 74; Paul Casey (Britain) 72, 70, 74; Paul McGinley (Ireland) 74, 66, 76; Pat Perez (US) 70, 69, 77.217 – Charles Howell III (US) 75, 70, 72; Phil Mickelson (US) 73, 69, 75.

218 – Colin Montgomerie (Britain) 72, 73, 73; Chad Campbell (US) 77, 68, 73; Tom Lehman (US) 73, 71, 74; Lee Westwood (Britain) 69, 74, 75; Niclas Fasth (Sweden) 71, 68, 79.

219 – Todd Hamilton (US) 73, 72, 74; Lucas Glover (US) 70, 75, 74; Robert Karlsson (Sweden) 73, 71, 75.

220 – Billy Mayfair (US) 76, 69, 75; Frank Lickliter II (US) 70, 75, 75; Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 73, 71, 76.

221 – Brian Bateman (US) 71, 74, 76; Mike Small (US) 73, 70, 78.

223 – Ryan Benzel (US) 71 72 80.—Reuters