McDowell matching Woods blow for blow

Leading pair Tiger Woods and Graeme McDowell made flying starts to their third rounds at the WGC-Cadillac Championship.

Woods, the overnight leader on 13 under par, started off with a tap-in birdie after his eagle putt just stayed up on the par-five opener at Doral’s famous Blue Monster course.

McDowell went one better, an eagle three taking him within a single stroke of the world number two’s lead, only for Woods to respond with a birdie at the second.

Fredrik Jacobson and Steve Stricker began their challenge in style, the Swede eagling the first hole before Stricker birdied the first two to move to 12 under.

Phil Mickelson joined Jacobson on 11 under after birdying the second, with Bubba Watson and Charl Schwartzel two shots further back.

There was some strong scoring from those just back in the field, with Charles Howell III three under through 10 holes to move to eight under for the tournament, level with Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley and Sergio Garcia.

Another Ryder Cup player, Nicolas Colsaerts, was five under for the day and seven under for the tournament with four holes of his round to play.

England’s Lee Westwood had started with a birdie and added four more in five holes around the turn to move into a share of 10th place, but dropped shots at 13 and 14 to fall back to five under for the week, one shot behind compatriot Justin Rose.