Sean O’Hair and Ryan Palmer tied for lead at Firestone

With Tiger Woods near the bottom of the field and Phil Mickelson unable to make a move, Sean O’ Hair and Ryan Palmer charged into a tie for the lead in Saturday’s third round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Akron, Ohio.

O’Hair fired a six-under-par 64 and Palmer a sparkling 63, the only two bogey-free scores of the day, as the pair edged one shot clear of a tightly bunched leaderboard at Firestone Country Club.

O’Hair and Palmer were at nine-under 201, with Matt Kuchar alone in third after carding a 66 on a soft layout vulnerable to low scoring. Thirty-five players in the field of 80 shot rounds in the 60s.

Ernie Els recorded a 64 to lie fourth at seven under along with Swede Peter Hanson (68) and Justin Leonard (69) in the elite World Golf Championships event.

At one point on a sun-soaked afternoon, seven players were in a log-jam at the top and O’Hair, seeking his fourth PGA Tour title, predicted a birdie-fest in Sunday’s final round.

“It’s just a shootout tomorrow,” the 28-year-old said after covering the back nine in three under.

Fan favorite Mickelson, who has a golden opportunity to replace Woods as No. 1 in the world after this week, briefly moved into a tie for the lead on the front nine before falling back after an erratic display.

The left-hander, who missed 10 of 14 fairways during the third round, bogeyed two of the last five holes for a 71 and shared 10th place at five under.

“I didn’t play very well today and made some bogeys on the back nine that were costly,” Mickelson said. “I’m going to have to play better tomorrow.

“But I feel like my iron play has been good, so I’ve been pleased with that. Goal number one [tomorrow] will be to get the ball in play off the tee.”

Woods completed his round 2 1/2 hours before the leaders teed off, shooting a dismal 75 in perfect conditions to stand at 11-over 221, the worst of his PGA Tour career relative to par.

“I drove it terrible, hit my irons terrible, didn’t putt well and it added up to a lot,” Woods told a Tour official after recording two birdies, five bogeys and a double-bogey.

The American’s top ranking, which he has held for 269 consecutive weeks, is now under severe threat. Mickelson would take over with a top-four finish if Woods places outside the top 44. He is 78th after three rounds.

Retief Goosen, who held a one-shot lead going into the third round, triple-bogeyed the opening hole on the way to a 73 and a tie for 16th at five under.

Cejka leads by two

Alex Cejka birdied his last three holes, shooting a five-under 67 and extending his lead to two shots at the Turning Stone Resort Championship at Verona, N.Y.

Cejka finished 54 holes on the Atunyote course with a 15-under 201 and heads into the final round in good position to earn his first career PGA Tour win.

Chris Couch shot a bogey-free 63 and held the clubhouse lead for several hours before he was passed by Cejka at the end of the day. Couch was alone in second place at 13-under 203.

Billy Mayfair climbed into third place at 204 with a 66.

Cejka, a 39-year-old grinder who was born in the former Czechoslovakia but plays under the German flag, has made 227 previous starts on the PGA Tour without winning.

The leader by one shot after the second round, Cejka headed to No. 16 trailing Couch by a stroke despite mixing three birdies with just one bogey over his first 15 holes.

Cejka rolled in a seven-foot birdie putt at the 16th to begin the late-round rally that would not only restore his lead, but extend it.

Frost ties Calcavecchia

David Frost shot a six-under 66 and was tied with Mark Calcavecchia for the lead after two rounds of the Champions Tour’s 3M Championship at Blaine, Minn.

John Cook (67), Kirk Hanefeld (64) and David Peoples (66) were two shots back.

In his fifth tour event since turning 50 on June 12, Calcavecchia started the day one shot behind Tommy Armour III, but birdied six of his first 10 holes and opened a three-shot lead.