Els Makes Charge But Settles for a 70

CHASKA, Minn., Aug. 15 -- The man who made the most enthralling run at Tiger Woods in Saturday's third round of the PGA Championship wasn't Padraig Harrington or Vijay Singh. Rather, it was another three-time major champion -- Ernie Els. The South African began the day 1 under par and well back, but somehow got within a shot of the lead -- and drew huge cheers from the gallery at Hazeltine National Golf Club as he made the assault.

"The crowd was unbelievable," Els said. "Felt like a home game to me. They were standing up in the stands when I was coming up to some of the greens, so [a] really wonderful reception."

Els's birdie at the par-5 15th got him to 6 under, one back of Woods, and the crowd sensed the 39-year-old could be a true threat to Woods on Sunday. But then, disaster: a bogey-bogey-bogey finish that left Els with a round of 70, a 3-under total of 213 through 54 holes -- and made him an also-ran in the race to catch Woods, because he is five behind.

"All kind of fell apart on me at the end there," Els said. "But I've got to take a lot out of it today. I played good. I got to within one shot of the lead, and it's not over yet."

Els's collapse featured a poor chip at 16, a missed three-footer on 17 and a bad tee shot at the 18th. His last win in a major came at the 2002 British Open. He is hopeful another could be upcoming.

"I'm not totally out of it," he said. "Probably need something like that tomorrow, and obviously got to finish it off."

Singh Stays Out of Rhythm

If anyone figured to make a move and push Woods Saturday, Singh, who played with him in the final group, was as good a choice as any. The three-time major champion opened his round with a crisp approach into the first, but then missed a 10-footer for birdie. And that was the pretty part.

Singh's putter, which he cited as a strength on Friday, completely betrayed him Saturday. He missed a two-footer for birdie on the fifth and another one for birdie on the ninth. Twice, he three-putted. He needed 32 putts in carding a 75 that left him at even par for the tournament, eight back of Woods -- and that was with a chip-in across the green at the par-5 seventh for eagle.

Rain Advisory

Rain fell on Hazeltine, and hard, shortly after play ended Saturday night, and the forecast called for the possibility of more storms overnight and into Sunday. Because of that, the PGA of America, which stages this championship, was making alternate arrangements to provide for a Sunday finish. If the course is "unfit for play or there is dangerous weather in the area," the group said in a statement, the final-round pairings could be reshuffled into threesomes, and play might be staged off both the first and 10th tees.

Should that happen, the final threesome of the day would be Woods, Harrington and Y.E. Yang. Woods and Harrington played in the final group last week at the Bridgestone Invitational, which Woods won. . . .

Richard Sterne of South Africa withdrew on the 15th hole of the third round with a left hand injury. Sterne had started the back nine double bogey-bogey-double bogey-bogey, and had gone from 1 under for the tournament after the front nine to 5 over.