Tiger shocked even himself with the thriller of a 1-under 71 round he shot on Saturday.(How/Getty Images)

Call it, "Tiger's Third-Round Scorecard," and don't forget your sick bag. If you make it through the whole park, trust us, you won't believe the ending.

Lee Westwood, one shot back of Tiger, will play with the 13-time major winner in the last pairing on Sunday.(Kinnaird/Getty Images)

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MULTIMEDIA

Audio: Third-round podcast
Video: Westwood/Tiger play
Video: Woods leads, reflects
Video: PGA TOUR Today
Video: Mediate in the pack
Saturday leaderboard
Saturday's live notes
Photos from Tiger's day

Tiger Woods had more twists and turns in the third round on Saturday than a carnival contortionist or the most curling, looping roller coaster in the world, and we're not even talking about that surgically repaired left knee that's getting worse as the week goes on.

How in the world, if you're Tiger Woods, do you execute three of the best shots in your life, yet only sign for a 1-under 70? It doesn't make sense unless it's the finest 1-under round in the history of the game, which this might be.

But then nothing much made sense, other than this: Tiger Woods is always great theater, and Saturday's performance was as good as it gets.

Major championships are just as loaded with trials and travails, and though he seems immortal, Woods is no exception. Of course, he's also exceptional. Even though it was only a 70, it was enough for the 54-hole lead at 3 under, one better than Lee Westwood. On a day in which he didn't have his "A" -- or even his "B" -- game off the tee, he climbed to the top of the leaderboard. And it's a good thing too, because as we all know Tiger has never come from behind to win a major.

Right out of the gate Saturday, it looked as though this round just wasn't meant to be for the world's No. 1 player. Forget the bum knee. The guy made double bogey at No. 1 for the second time in three days -- just his third double bogey of the 2008 PGA TOUR season in stroke-play and his third this week. Then a bogey at No. 4. Now he was 3 over through four holes on Moving Day ... and moving in the wrong direction.

This is where the excitement begins.

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TRIVIA QUESTION

Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer all finished runner up in consecutive years at the U.S. Open. Which player in this week's field is the fourth golfer to have back-to-back runner-up finishes in the last 90 years? See answer at bottom of page

SHOT OF THE DAY I SHOT OF THE DAY II The incredible, unbelievable, seemingly impossible chip-in for birdie from the greenside rough by Tiger Woods on the 17th hole. He was staring bogey in the face. Instead, he popped the ball out of the rough, it bounced once and dropped into the cup for your average run-of-the-mill birdie. The 66-foot putt for eagle by Tiger Woods from just off the green at the par-5 13th. This speedy, downhill putt rivaled the famous "better than most" putt Woods made at THE PLAYERS in 2001. Any other day of the year, this would be the No. 1 shot. But, Woods outdid himself on No. 17.

EASIEST HOLE TOUGHEST HOLE The 614-yard, par-5 13th hole. It played to a scoring average of 4.625. There were two eagles, 37 birdies, 30 pars, nine bogeys, no double bogeys and one quadruple bogey. The 515-yard, par-4 sixth hole. It played to a scoring average of 4.637. Only one player made birdie. There were 35 pars, 37 bogeys, six double bogeys and one "other."

QUOTE OF THE DAY ROUND OF THE DAY "I think it's an exciting Open. I'm certainly disappointed that I'm not in the mix right now. That was the goal. So I'm going to come out tomorrow, enjoy my final round." -- local favorite Phil Mickelson after his third-round 76 put him at 9 over for the tournament Brandt Snedeker's 3-under 68. It was the lowest score in the third round and moved the Nashville native swiftly up the leaderboard. At 4 over, Snedeker will start the final round tied for 15th, trailing Tiger Woods by seven shots. At Oakmont in 2007, Snedeker finished in a tie for 23rd.

What the leaders said

Player Position Score Comment Tiger Woods 1 3 under "It's a U.S. Open. Guys aren't going to go low. And even though I got off to such a poor start again today, I just hung around, just get back to even par. I was just trying to get back to even par, either for the tournament or for the day. The day would be great. But even if I finished at even par for the tournament, it wouldn't be a bad thing either. And then all of a sudden things started turning." Lee Westwood 2 2 under "I've just been very calm and just, I didn't really have too many expectations coming in here. Just to try and get myself into contention and give myself a chance to win the U.S. Open. I've got to achieve that. I'm doing exactly what I wanted to do, so I'm pleased." Rocco Mediate 3 1 under "It was a good nervous. I knew that, first of all, the world is watching, which is really cool. I love that. You've just got to keep doing what you're doing, but it's hard to do. I love that feeling. I'll feel the same way tomorrow morning or afternoon." Geoff Ogilvy T4 1 over "I'm making bad starts. I don't think there's anything to read into that. I've got to make a better start. I don't think there's much of a pattern. It's hard to be under par in a U.S. Open. Hopefully, maybe I'll go out and birdie two of the first three tomorrow and reverse it." D.J. Trahan T4 1 over "I still think a 4- or 5-under par is out on this golf course, and I think a lot of players will tell you that as well. If you go play superb golf, you can shoot that score out there. It's not likely to happen, but it can happen. But it's nice to see I still have a chance to win the championship tomorrow if I have a good day."

Imada

A NEED FOR SPEED
Slow play has been a hot topic in professional golf these days. Major championship rounds can be in excess of five hours. Just brutal.

Kudos to Ryuji Imada and Anthony Kim. The twosome were the first to tee off at Torrey Pines on Saturday morning at 8:30 local time and played their third round in 3 hours, 15 minutes -- or 48 minutes ahead of pace.

"The last two days, it probably took us 5 hours, 30 minutes," said Imada, who had his first PGA TOUR win at the AT&T Classic last month. "It's a grind out there. It's a long day when it takes that long. But today was great."

It was great scoring-wise for the pair, too. Both players shot 1-under 70s and were 6 over through 54 holes.

Kim

Kim, who won the Wachovia Championship in May, was particularly surprising. He's been fighting a virus all week but still managed to turn in his best score of the tournament by four shots.

"I felt really bad this morning, but this is my job," Kim said. "I've got to go out and do it and suck it up. It doesn't affect my golf, really, as much as it does mentally. I think I lose my focus out there a little bit quicker. I've just got to suck it up for one more day."

Despite being ill, Kim's third round on Saturday was a whole lot better than his third round at Oakmont last year.

"Last year, I played -- and I was perfectly fine -- and I shot 80 in the third round," he said. "So it's not because I'm not feeling good. I haven't been playing well the last two days, but it's turned around a little bit. I think I found something in my driver. Hopefully, it'll work tomorrow."

Garcia

PLAYERS CHAMP UPDATE
Sergio Garcia, who earned the biggest win of his career just a month ago at THE PLAYERS Championship, got off to a rough start in the 108th U.S. Open. He shot a 5-over 76 in the first round. Since then, he's been brilliant.

With matching scores of 1-under 70 in the second and third rounds, Garcia crawled back into contention and will start the final round at 3 over, trailing Tiger Woods by six shots.

"I would love to be a couple better, just to make sure that I was a little closer. But like I also said, you know, every time you shoot under par here, you shouldn't be too greedy, I guess," Garcia said. "So it's not too bad, and that's what I did the last few days. Unfortunately, I just had a bad start on Thursday. But I'm slowly coming back."

Garcia is still looking for his first win in a major championship. He's come close a couple of times with runner-up finishes at the 1999 PGA Championship and the 2007 British Open (in a playoff). The best finish for the Spaniard in a U.S. Open was a tie for third at Pinehurst in 2005.

TRIVIA ANSWER

Jim Furyk has come close to winning the U.S. Open in the past two years but finished second (with Tiger Woods) to Angel Cabrera in 2007 and held a share of second in 2006 with Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie when Geoff Ogilvy took home the title.

THOUGHTS TO PONDER FOR SUNDAY:

1. Can anyone catch Tiger Woods? The world's No. 1 player will start the final round with a one-shot lead on a course that he figuratively owns. Furthermore, in 13 previous tries, he has never lost a major championship when holding the lead after 54 holes.

2. What will Tiger Woods make on the first hole? Silly question? Perhaps. However, he double bogeyed it on Thursday and Saturday and birdied it on Friday. Does that mean he's due for another birdie?

3. How will Phil Mickelson close out the first major ever played on his childhood course? It won't be the way that he had planned, as Lefty will start the final round at 9 over, trailing Tiger Woods by 12 shots. But, does he have it in him to give his diehard fans that one sub-par round they're so desperately craving?