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BOB HARIGWith 12 players within four strokes of Thomas Bjorn, anyone can win.
SANDWICH, England - Amid the madness, Thomas Bjorn remained calm. While eagles and birdies flew around him, the Dane ground out important pars. And with one of his rivals unceremoniously bounced from the tournament, Bjorn performed the simple yet crucial task of correctly signing his scorecard.
It was another wild day at balmy Royal St. George's, where the sun-baked fairways and greens produced their share of funny bounces and fluctuating scores during the third round of the British Open.
Meanwhile, Bjorn, the best golfer from Denmark, parred the last 11 holes and is the only player under par. But six players are within two shots and 12 are within four.
"There's some big, big names there," Bjorn said.
Big names? How about Davis Love, Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia? Then there's one of the hottest players in the game, Kenny Perry. And lurking within striking distance are a couple of past major championship winners, Nick Faldo and Fred Couples.
Bjorn is at 212, 1 under par. Love, the second-round leader, eagled the 14th hole to shoot 72 and is a stroke back at 213. Woods (69), Singh (69), Perry (70), Garcia (70) and unheralded Ben Curtis (70) are tied for third at 214, two back.
Mark Roe should be part of that group, too. But the Englishman, who shot 4-under-par 67, signed an incorrect scorecard. He and playing partner Jesper Parnevik were sent packing when it was discovered they had failed to exchange scorecards on the first tee, leading them to sign the wrong ones and get disqualified.
"What can you do?" Roe said. "I've just played one of the greatest rounds of my life and I can't play (today)."
Roe, 40, would have been in position to become the first player from England to win the British Open since Nick Faldo in 1992. Faldo, 46, also shot 67 to give himself an outside shot at his fourth Claret Jug.
"This is the truest links we've played for moons," said Faldo, who is tied for 14th, five strokes back. "It's rock hard. The wind is really blowing, and you see we just are unprepared for this. The odds on getting a day or week like this are so low in your whole career. It comes as a complete shock, really. Plus, with the pin positions being so wicked ... "
That helps explain the highs and lows of the challengers.
"I don't think anybody can really run away and hide," Love said. "And every time you get a run, something knocks you back. There's going to be a lot of players hanging around the same scores."
Woods electrified the crowd with eagles at the fourth and seventh holes, the latter coming when he drained a bunker shot to take the lead. When he added a long, twisting 30-foot birdie putt at the ninth, he was 2 under par and in command.
But that didn't last on the back nine, where for the second straight day, he shot 3-over-par 38. Woods said two unfortunate bounces doomed him to bogeys at 11 and 17.
"It's tough," said Woods, who never has come from behind to win any of his eight major titles. "When you play most tournaments, you hit a tee shot, and if you hit it down the middle, you pick up your tee and don't worry about it. Here, you worry about it. "Please bounce straight.' It's a little more stressful than most tournaments we play because good shots aren't always rewarded by being in the fairway."
Woods will be in the second-to-last pairing with two-time major winner Singh, who had a frenzied round that included an eagle, five birdies and five bogeys. At one point, Singh bogeyed four straight holes.
Garcia also had an interesting day, nearly losing a ball at the par-4 17th, then hitting it 6 inches before holing a 96-yard wedge shot for par.
"This is what we practice for, and it feels good to be up there," said Garcia, 23, who is in search of his first major title.
"I've been working hard on my game, and it seems like it is starting to pay off."
The same can be said for Bjorn, 32, a seven-time PGA European Tour winner who said, "I probably haven't played golf tee-to-green as well as I did (Saturday) for two years. I did all the things that I really wanted to do, and I'm just very happy with the way I played."
Bjorn is the rare player who has dueled Woods and won. At the 2001 Dubai Desert Classic, Bjorn trailed Woods by one shot heading into the final round and won by two. It is the last time, and the fourth in 37 events worldwide, where Woods failed to win when holding or sharing the 54-hole lead.
"I think that would be a good memory for everybody," Bjorn said.
This promises to be a memorable day.