Australian Aaron Baddeley burst out of a four-way tie yesterday 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 a level-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.
   
"You always dream of playing in majors and having a chance to win going into Sunday," Baddeley told reporters. "I can only focus on what I'm doing. Today I felt really calm out there and peaceful. My game felt nice. I wasn't trying to press or do anything special."
   
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.
   
After missing the cut in his two previous Opens, Baddeley said he was excited about playing in the last group with Woods as he goes for his first major.
   
"It's perfect, it's exciting," he said. "He's the best player in the world but I feel like I'm playing nicely."

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 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 number one, chasing his 13th major title, was the last in the field to post a bogey on the warm, humid day.
   
At 18, Woods hit his tee shot into a bunker, blasted out to the fairway and placed his third shot on the green. He left his 20-foot par-putt on the edge of the hole.
   
"I didn't drop a shot today until 18, which was nice and that's what ultimately you want to have at a US Open," said Woods. "I hit a lot of putts that just grazed the edge, but I'm right back in the mix."

Graeme McDowell is eight shots off the lead after a third round 75 left the Portrush pro on 10-over 220.

Collated third round scores & Totals in the US Open Championship, Oakmont GC, Oakmont, Pennsylvania, United States of America
(USA unless stated, par 70):

212 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 72 70 70

214 Tiger Woods 71 74 69

215 Paul Casey (Eng) 77 66 72, Justin Rose (Eng) 71 71 73, Bubba Watson 70 71
74, Stephen Ames (Can) 73 69 73

216 Steve Stricker 75 73 68, Jim Furyk 71 75 70, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 69 71 76

217 Niclas Fasth (Swe) 71 71 75, David Toms 72 72 73, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 74
72 71

218 Jerry Kelly 74 71 73, Vijay Singh (Fij) 71 77 70, Jeff Brehaut 73 75 70 Scott Verplank 73 71 74

219 Nick Dougherty (Eng) 68 77 74, Lee Janzen 73 73 73, Michael Putnam 73 74
72, Tom Pernice Jnr. 72 72 75, Hunter Mahan 73 74 72, Mike Weir (Can) 74 72 73,
Tim Clark (Rsa) 72 76 71, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 72 72 75

220 Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 73 72 75

221 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 75 73 73, Ian Poulter (Eng) 72 77 72, Brandt
Snedeker 71 73 77, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 76 74 71

222 Chad Campbell 73 72 77, DJ Brigman 74 74 74, Chris DiMarco 76 73 73, Ken
Duke 74 75 73, Harrison Frazar 74 74 74

223 Peter Hanson (Swe) 71 74 78, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 75 75 73, John Rollins
75 74 74, Ernie Els (Rsa) 73 76 74, Fred Funk 71 78 74

224 J J Henry 71 78 75, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 77 73 74, Boo Weekley 72 75 77,
Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 71 75 78, Pablo Martin (Spa) 71 76 77

225 George McNeill 72 76 77, Jason Dufner 71 75 79, Michael Campbell (Nzl) 73
77 75, Camilo Villegas (Col) 73 77 75, Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 72 74 79

226 Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 70 78 78, Dean Wilson 76 74 76, Zach Johnson 76
74 76, Olin Browne 71 75 80, Ben Curtis 71 77 78, Lee Westwood (Eng) 72 75 79,
Charles Howell III 76 73 77

227 Anthony Kim 74 73 80, Bob Estes 75 75 77, Kenneth Ferrie (Eng) 74 76 77,
Marcus Fraser (Aus) 72 78 77

228 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 73 77 78

229 Anders Hansen (Den) 71 79 79, Kevin Sutherland 74 76 79