Lytham, St Anne’s (UK): Brandt Snedeker wobbled badly, Tiger Woods hit back after a bad start and Adam Scott continued his serene progress to lead the British Open by four shots midway through the third round.
American Snedeker, the overnight leader, made his first bogey of the tournament at the fifth hole on Saturday and his second followed immediately when he found a Lytham bunker for the first time to drop back to eight under.
Snedeker suffered his third bogey at the eighth and his Australian playing partner sank a monster putt on the same green to move three clear on 11 under par.
Snedeker, clearly rattled, bogeyed the ninth as well after finding another bunker and Scott calmly made par to stretch his lead to four.
Woods, seeking his 15th major championship, fought back from bogeys at the first and third holes with a clutch of birdies at six, seven and nine to roar back to seven under.
South African Ernie Els picked up two shots in the first 10 holes to surge into fourth place on five under, level with American Zach Johnson, who completed a birdie-studded round of 66, and Thorbjorn Olesen.
Former US Open champion Graeme McDowell and American Matt Kuchar were clinging on to the tails of the leaders on four under.
Snedeker dropped a shot at the par-three fifth, narrowly missing a five-foot putt to drop back before visiting the sand at the sixth.
Meanwhile, Jeev Milkha Singh and Anirban Lahiri made it a red-letter day for India on Friday as they became the first two golfers from the subcontinent to qualify for the weekend rounds at the same Major.
While Jeev became the first Indian to make a cut in all four Majors, his younger teammate Lahiri became only the second from the country to make the cut on his Major debut, the first being Jeev at the 2002 US Open. (Agencies)