Good third round for Ernie, but 8 off the pace

Ernie Els of South Africa posted a third-round score of 69 at the 2010 PGA Championship, but the Big Easy is eight shots behind the leader, Nick Watney, who is 13 under par.

Watney opened a three-stroke lead by making birdies on five of his first seven holes.

Liang Wenchong joined a group at 9 under with eight birdies. Also in the group were Dustin Johnson, who melted down at Pebble Beach after being the 54-hole leader, 2003 U.S. Open champ Jim Furyk and Rory McIlroy.

Tiger Woods had a chance to make things interesting, pulling within five strokes of the lead after the second round was completed Saturday morning. But he backed up in the third round, and was 11 strokes off the lead with two holes to play.
Tom Lehman had the shot of the day, acing the 217-yard 17th with a 4-iron. Lehman, who won the Senior PGA title this year, ran off the tee slapping hands and high-fiving fans.

Tim Clark is three shots behind Ernie at -3, followed by Charl Schwartzel, who is a further shot back and Retief Goosen (two over par).