Tiger Woods came off second-best to Europe's finest in the third round of the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open today with Padraig Harrington clinging on to his lead as the pack closed in.
Needing a Tiger-like assault on the Gut Kaden course north of Hamburg, Woods failed to produce the goods despite having the best of the weather early in the day.
The world number one then had to watch from the clubhouse as a host of lesser lights sped past him to position themselves for tomorrow's finale.
By the end of the day, Harrington, leader by three strokes at the halfway stage, was still ahead after a two-under 70 for a 15-under-par total of 201, but his margin was down to two strokes over rising Northern Ireland star Graeme McDowell who posted a 68.
One stroke further back was European number one Retief Goosen and the latest Danish contribution to the European tour, Mads Vibe-Hastrup who carded a 66.
A batch of players were poised to strike on 11-under including Ulsterman Darren Clarke and Englishman Paul Casey, who won the B&H international last week.
Barring a miracle, Woods was out of the picture after a 70 left him on six-under, nine strokes off the pace.
Dubliner Harrington, a runner-up 19 times in his career, said with Woods out of the running he was his own worst enemy and it looked that way early on as his three-shot advantage evaporated in the space of a handful of holes.
An on-fire Clarke was the first to catch him with four birdies in six holes and soon the Dubliner was in danger of being sucked back into the pack.
But birdies at the sixth and seventh stiffened his resolve and he grafted on bravely as the benign early conditions gave way to squalling rain and a chill wind.
Clarke, meanwhile, came to grief on the par-three 16th when he thinned his bunker shot over the green into thick bushes. Obliged to drop back in the same bunker, he crawled off with a damaging five.
Woods started the day four-under-par, nine strokes adrift of pace-setter Harrington.
But after birdies at the fourth and the sixth set abuzz the huge crowds following him, a morale-sapping bogey-five at the seventh took the wind out of his sails.
Woods reached the turn in 35 and despite another birdie at the 10th, he could only par his way in for a disappointing 70.
Asked if he thought he could still rebound to win tomorrow, Woods replied: "Probably not".
"The way things are going, there are too many guys ahead of me and Paddy (Harrington) is playing well."
Peter Lawrie lost ground from his third placed overnight berth. The Dubliner shot 71 and goes into the final round six shots adrift on nine under.
Ronan Rafferty matched shot a second 74 of the week but still matches par for the tournament.
The best early round of the day came from Englishman Anthony Wall who did what Woods was supposed to do by blitzing eight birdies on the way to a tournament-best 64.
That left him at 11-under for the tournament and with renewed faith in his game.