• Memorial Tournament, Round Three

Stricker's late slump sees lead shrink

Steve Stricker holed out for a two on the par-four second © Getty Images

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Steve Stricker holed his second shot at the second hole for an eagle and only really looked back late on, as he built an ominous lead during the third round of the Memorial Tournament in Ohio.

The American, who has already had a hole-in-one this week at Muirfield Village, saw his second shot roll into the cup on the par-four to give him a great start to Saturday's play, and he built on that with another eagle at the fifth before two birdies on the seventh and eighth - broken up by a dropped shot at the sixth - put him in a commanding position.

However, the final few holes saw a slump that threatened to open the door for the rest of the field, as Stricker let a few errors creep into his game.

Indeed, a mini-implosion at the 15th looked like it might allow others back into the contest, but Stricker recovered from a poor second shot to roll in an eight-footer for bogey that limited the damage and kept him clear of the rest.

He nevertheless would bogey the very next hole, before missing another makeable birdie putt on the 17 that would have calmed the nerves. His drive down the last then found a filled-in divot, a poor slice of luck that led him to need another crafty up-and-down for a closing par.

A round of 69 nevertheless put Stricker at 12-under for the tournament - three clear of his nearest challenger with just 18 holes remaining - but it looked like being so much more emphatic for much of the day.

That nearest challenger is Jonathan Byrd, who recorded four birdies (including one on the last) and just a single bogey on his way to a round of 69 and nine-under total.

Matt Kuchar and Brandt Jobe are also in contention at eight-under, the two experienced Americans making their way around in 68 and 69 respectively to keep in touch with Stricker at the top.

British players had less success, with Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald both unlikely to take victory on Sunday after up-and-down rounds.

Donald started with a birdie on his opening hole but after that never really got going, picking up a shot on the 11th he had given back one hole prior thanks to a pinpoint pitch, before managing the reverse three holes later after making a meal of the par-five 15th. A one-over round of 73 puts the current world No. 1 eight shots back at four-under.

McIlroy, meanwhile, had a double-bogey five, bogey six and eagle on his card in an erratic round that nevertheless saw him tip under par for the day.

The Northern Irishman carded a 71 that could have been better but for some near-misses with the putter, and so remains something of an outside chance for victory at seven-under - nevertheless a better position than he might have expected before Stricker's mini-collapse.

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