Tiger rolls back the months

With echoes of the cheers from Tiger Woodss back-nine charge still rolling over Pebble Beach Golf Links,Dustin Johnson grabbed the lead,kept his composure and birdied the final two holes at dusk to take a three-stroke lead over the overnight leader Graeme McDowell and a five-stroke lead over Woods into the final round of the 110th …

With echoes of the cheers from Tiger Woodss back-nine charge still rolling over Pebble Beach Golf Links,Dustin Johnson grabbed the lead,kept his composure and birdied the final two holes at dusk to take a three-stroke lead over the overnight leader Graeme McDowell and a five-stroke lead over Woods into the final round of the 110th United States Open.

Johnson,the winner of the last two AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Ams,ignored all the commotion from Woods and made some noise of his own,shooting a 66 that matched Woodss score and overtaking McDowell with his late birdies.

At the golf course where mystical things happen,Johnson relied on a solid combination of power and finesse that has nothing to do with magic and everything to do with work and pure athleticism. He battled with McDowell,who shot even-par 71,head-to-head all day.

Story continues below this ad

At six-under-par 207,Johnson is six strokes ahead of Ernie Els (72) and the Frenchman Gregory Havret,who stormed into contention with a 69.

All eyes will be on Woods on Sunday after he sent a very loud message to the leaders and followers alike,playing by far his best golf since returning to the game at the Masters in a round that featured a blistering 30 on the back nine topped off by consecutive birdies at the 16th,17th and 18th holes. His second shot into the 18th with a 3-wood from 260 yards to within 15 feet of the hole was vintage Woods. The response was raucous,and Woods was asked about it.

Its been a while, Woods said. I hadnt played good enough for anyone to cheer for anything. So it was nice to actually put it together on the back nine and put myself right back in the championship. And everyone was just so excited and fired up that it was just a great atmosphere to play in front of.

As he walked toward the green with the late-afternoon sun shining on his face,it was reminiscent of so many walks from so many Opens before. The cheering was loud and not self conscious and Woods was obviously basking in it after struggling through ordinary performances in the run-up to the Open.