Golf: Louis Oosthuizen recovered from a dreadful start in his third round register a six-under-par total and establish a two-stroke lead at the Shell Houston Open.
The South African bogeyed the first two holes but did not drop a shot thereafter, claiming eight birdies between the sixth and the 17th to sit 17 under and two clear of American Hunter Mahan.
Mahan shot a best-of-the-day, seven-under-par 65 in a round that also contained eight birdies, while England's Brian Davis and Sweden's Carl Pettersson remain a threat on 14 under.
For the second round in a row Davis did not drop a stroke, carding three birdies for a three-under 69, while Pettersson was five under for the day.
James Driscoll was fifth on 12 under, while defending champion Phil Mickelson was among a group of three players on 11 under.
"It's a great leaderboard behind me," Oosthuizen said on www.pgatour.com, "It's going to be tough, but I feel like I'm ready for it."
Play began early on day three with 70 players yet to finish their second rounds on the back of bad weather on Thursday.
Jeff Maggert was the 36-hole leader on 12 under, but it could have been better had he not dropped a shot on the ninth - his last, having started from the 10th - for his first bogey of the tournament.
And that was a sign of things to come as he carded six bogeys on four-over third round, leaving him eight under overall in a tie for 14th, alongside, among others, Ernie Els and England's Lee Westwood.
Els, who needs to win to qualify for the Masters, said: "I needed to get to 10 or 11 under to really have a shot.
"I need a 62 or 63. It's tough to do on a Sunday, but you might as well give it a go."
Graeme McDowell remains best of the Irish, but his putter was cold and he could only manage a 73 to drop back to four under. Pádraig Harrington shot a 74 for an overall total of level par, before withdrawing from the tournament.
Collated third-round scores (USA unless stated, Irish in bold, par 72):
199 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 67 66 66
201 Hunter Mahan 69 67 65
202 Brian Davis (Eng) 68 65 69, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 65 70 67
204 James Driscoll 67 66 71
205 Phil Mickelson 65 70 70, Keegan Bradley 67 69 69, Ryan Palmer 71 68 66
206 J.B. Holmes 68 67 71, John Senden (Aus) 72 65 69, Boo Weekley 69 67 70, John Huh (Kor) 66 70 70, Tommy Gainey 68 67 71
208 Pat Perez 68 69 71, Vaughn Taylor 69 67 72, Jeff Overton 69 70 69, Jeff Maggert 66 66 76, Ernie Els (Rsa) 70 69 69, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 69 69 70, Brandt Jobe 68 69 71, Lee Westwood (Eng) 68 70 70
209 Bryce Molder 70 70 69, Bud Cauley 67 69 73, Danny Lee (Nzl) 69 68 72, Marc Leishman (Aus) 70 70 69, Johnson Wagner 68 71 70, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 69 71 69, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 69 68 72, Cameron Tringale 69 70 70
210 Nathan Green (Aus) 70 70 70, Tim Herron 74 68 68, Sean O'Hair 70 71 69, Scott Piercy 70 70 70, John Mallinger 70 70 70, Jonas Blixt (Swe) 70 66 74, Harris English 69 68 73
211 Erik Compton 71 67 73, Greg Owen (Eng) 66 69 76, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 65 70 76, Mark Anderson 71 70 70, Fred Couples 67 73 71, Blake Adams 67 71 73, Chad Campbell 69 67 75, Kyle Reifers 68 69 74, Jim Herman 68 70 73, Tommy Biershenk 72 67 72
212 Brendon De Jonge 70 70 72, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 73 69 70, Ben Crane 69 70 73, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 70 72 70, Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 70 69 73, Billy Mayfair 70 71 71, Will Claxton 70 72 70, Rickie Fowler 68 70 74
213 Steve Stricker 68 70 75, Shawn Stefani 71 71 71, Shaun Micheel 70 72 71, Roberto Castro 71 69 73, Steve Wheatcroft 68 72 73
214 John Merrick 70 72 72, Joe Ogilvie 71 69 74, Jamie Lovemark 70 70 74, Ricky Barnes 66 74 74, Ted Potter, Jr. 74 68 72, Cameron Beckman 74 67 73, Troy Kelly 71 71 72, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 72 70 72, Troy Matteson 73 69 72, Jason Bohn 69 72 73
215 Miguel Angel Carballo (Arg) 74 68 73
216 Omar Uresti 71 69 76, Bill Lunde 69 71 76, Jimmy Walker 72 70 74, Pádraig Harrington (Irl) 69 73 74
217 Charley Hoffman 74 68 75, Kris Blanks 69 72 76, Kyle Stanley 73 69 75, Brian Harman 69 73 75, Hunter Haas 73 65 79
218 Chris Stroud 69 73 76, Robert Allenby (Aus) 72 68 78
219 Kevin Stadler 73 69 77, Duffy Waldorf 71 71 77, Lucas Glover 73 66 80, William McGirt 70 72 77
220 Chris Di Marco 73 69 78
221 Daniel Summerhays 72 69 80
222 Ryan Moore 71 66 85
223 Colt Knost 69 73 81
224 Justin Leonard 69 72 83
