SPRINGFIELD, New Jersey, 15 August 2005 — Tiger Woods’s bid to mount a last-day charge at the 87th US PGA Championship failed to materialize as he bogeyed two of the first three holes in stifling heat at Baltusrol on yesterday.

The world No. 1 , six strokes off the lead at the start of the day, dropped at the first and third to slip back to two over for the tournament with 15 holes remaining. On another day of sweltering record-breaking temperatures, Woods was attempting to put the heat on co-leaders Phil Mickelson and Davis Love III, who were scheduled to tee off at 3:20 EDT (1920 GMT).

Having needed a birdie on his final hole on Friday to make the cut, Woods clawed his way back into contention with a four-under-par 66 on Saturday that left just 19 players standing between him and the top of the leaderboard.

For the second day in a row, however, the US Masters and British Open champion launched his round with a bogey at the first after his opening drive found the rough and his second shot flew the green.

He parred the second hole before dropping another shot at the par-four third when his putt from 15 feet slipped past. His title hopes were hanging by the slimmest of threads in the Baltusrol heat and the bone-dry course had translated into difficult scoring conditions with only nine of 67 starters under par for the day.

Lurking one shot behind the leaders at five under is Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, who rocketed into contention in round three by firing a seven-under 63 that tied the record for the lowest score in a major championship.

Twice US Open champion Retief Goosen, Britons Lee Westwood and Greg Owen and Americans Jason Bohn and Ben Curtis were bunched three shots behind the co-leaders.

Lundberg Seals Maiden European Title in Playoff

In Nakhabino, Russia, Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg gave himself a perfect birthday present by clinching his maiden European Tour title in dramatic fashion at the Russian Open yesterday.

The Swede, who turned 32 the day before, edged out Britain’s Andrew Butterfield in a sudden-death playoff on the fourth extra hole at the Moscow Country Club in suburban Nakhabino. The pair had completed the 72 regulation holes in 15-under-par 273, Butterfield covering the back nine in just 30 strokes on his way to a six-under 66 to take the tournament into extra time.d with the finish.