Pádraig Harrington is just two shots off the lead heading into the final round of the Senior PGA Championship at Congressional.
A topsy-turvy third round saw the Dubliner post a one-over-par 73 which included six dropped shots which were more or less offset by five birdies. The 2022 Senior US Open champion sits on three-under-par overall.
Darren Clarke is one-over-par overall after a third-round 76, leving him in a tie for 23rd place.
"Obviously, it's tough enough conditions," Harrington said. "I'm happy to be two shots back. I felt it could be worse. I made a few nice birdies at times out there.
"Wasn't great off the tee, wasn't great with my putting. It kind of left me on edge most of the day.
"I certainly could have finished a little stronger. But being only two shots back, there's a lot of people in play, but at least I'm within two of the lead.
"Hopefully tomorrow I drive it like I drove it the first day, which was great, and hole a few putts."
Magnificent shot out of the fescue for Pádraig Harrington. 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/1FuY2HgoVm
— Senior PGA Champ (@seniorpgachamp) May 24, 2025
Retief Goosen and Angel Cabrera are among four players tied for the lead on five-under-par.
Jason Caron and England's Phillip Archer also part of the tie at five-under after Saturday's windy third round at Congressional Country Club. Seven others, including Harrington, are within two shots of the lead.
South African Goosen shot four-under 68 for the best round among the co-leaders. He had six birdies and two bogeys.
Argentina's Cabrera, playing with Clarke, shot 70 while Caron and Archer each carded a 71.
"You've just got to go out there and play shot for shot and see what happens," Goosen said. "If you make a lot of birdies, great. If you don't, well, somebody else here is going to, especially if conditions improve."
Cabrera made four birdies and two bogeys, while Caron and Archer each had four birdies and three bogeys.
Stewart Cink (71 on Saturday) and England's Lee Westwood (68) are one shot back at 212.
The pack at three-under includes Harrington and Fiji's Vijay Singh (75). Also part of the group is Sweden's Robert Karlsson (73), Denmark's Thomas Bjorn (73) and South Korea's YE Yang (75).
Cink had three birdies and two bogeys. He saw some of the names near the top of the leaderboard and it reminded him of former times on the PGA Tour.
"As you can see, the players up there have won a lot on hard golf courses," Cink said. "This course is really demanding, with the wind especially. It's just seemed like every hole, there is a place you just cannot go and you have to know where that is and game-plan for it and you have to execute. That's just major championship golf.
"It feels like a major out there. It's really challenging. Those names up there have all had some success."
Justin Leonard (73), England's Richard Bland (73) and Denmark's Seren Kjeldsen (74) are tied for 12th at two-under.
Harrington, playing with Sweden's Robrt Karlsson, gets his final round underway from 6.10pm Irish time while Dungannon man Clarke is off at 4.30.
Additional reporting: Reuters
