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Harrington (67) doesn’t wilt and goes three up on Woods

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Associated Press

Padraig Harrington responded to a late charge by Tiger Woods with one of his own Saturday and shot a three-under-par 67 at rain-softened Firestone to build a three-shot lead going into the final round of the Bridgestone Invitational.

Woods put some life into a dreary afternoon of rain at Akron, Ohio, with four birdies over his last six holes for a 65 that left him tied for the lead at seven under when he walked off the course and fans chasing after him to cheer his charge.

It didn’t last long, however, as Harrington ran off three birdies in a four-hole stretch to seize control. And even after the Irishman made a careless bogey on the par-five 16th, he answered with a 20-foot birdie on the 17th to restore his three-shot edge at 10-under 200.

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Woods, at 203, is the only player within four shots of Harrington. They will play together in the final round for the first time since the 2006 Dunlop Phoenix on the Japan Golf Tour, when Woods blew a three-shot lead with six holes to play and Harrington won in a playoff.

Jerry Kelly had a 69 and was at 205. Ten players were another shot back, including the three major champions this year -- Angel Cabrera, Lucas Glover and Stewart Cink.

Tim Clark, who was tied for the lead early on the back nine, was penalized two shots for not replacing his ball mark on the 16th green. That gave him a 73 as he fell seven shots behind Harrington.

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Reno-Tahoe Open

John Rollins doubled his lead in the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, shooting a five-under 67 to move four strokes ahead of Ryan Palmer.

Rollins, who tied the course record with a 62 on Friday, had three birdies and three bogeys on the front nine, then rolled in a 30-foot eagle putt on the par-five 11th and added two birdies to finish at 17-under 199 at Montreux Golf & Country Club.

Palmer birdied three of the first four holes and shot a 66 to reach 13 under.

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USC’s Song reaches U.S. Amateur final

USC’s Jennifer Song moved to within a victory of becoming the second woman to win two USGA championships in the same year, beating incoming UCLA freshman Tiffany Lua, 3 and 2, in the U.S. Women’s Amateur semifinals at St. Louis.

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Song, the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links winner in June and low amateur last month in the U.S. Women’s Open, will face Jennifer Johnson today in the 36-hole final. Johnson beat 14-year-old Alexis Thompson, 1-up.

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