CHASKA, Minnesota (AP) – Tiger Woods was one round away from winning another major but he squandered a four-shot lead and drew more company than he wanted at the U.S. PGA Championship on Saturday.

Woods played so-so on another windy afternoon at Hazeltine National until his lead was gone. Only at the end of the day did he find some solace. One birdie on the back nine was enough for a 1-under 71. It gave him a two-shot lead over three-time major champion Padraig Harrington and Y.E. Yang.

Woods has never lost a major when leading going into the final round.

Only once in his career has he lost any tournament when leading by two shots or more.

“I played conservatively today,'' Woods said. “I didn't give myself a lot of looks. I was lag putting a lot. The only putt I really missed was on the three-putt. Other than that, it was a good, solid day.

“Given the conditions and my position in the tournament, I didn't mind it.''

He was at 8-under 208, finishing just as the rain arrived.

Harrington surged into a share of the lead with four birdies over an eight-hole span in the middle of the round, catching Woods with a 7-foot birdie putt on the short par-4 14th. 

Right when it appeared they would be paired in the final round for the second straight week, Harrington made his only bogey of the round by going over the 18th green and failing to save par.

He wound up with a 69, and much greater hopes of defending his US PGA title than he had starting the day.

“The narrower the gap, the better,'' Harrington said. “If I have to take four shots and I've taken two the first day, I suppose we're halfway there. Obviously, to get a win, you've got to beat him by three tomorrow. That's a tall order. But as I said, everybody in the situation who is behind is going to think, 'Well, we have nothing to lose.' You've got to have that attitude.''

Woods will play in the final group with Yang, who matched the best round of the tournament with a 67. Yang won his first U.S. PGA Tour event this year at the Honda Classic, although the 37-year-old from South Korea was better known for taking down Woods at the HSBC Champions in China three years ago.

They weren't playing in the same group in 2006, however. And this will be Yang's first time contending in a major.

“It will be my first time playing with him, so I'll try not to go over par,'' he said with a smile. “But I've been looking forward to it. I've thought about playing with Tiger recently. Surprised it came true so fast.''

Woods' four-shot lead was his largest in a major after 36 holes since he led by four at St. Andrews in 2005. Just like that British Open, his margin was cut to two shots going into the final round.

Suddenly, there are other challengers to try to stop Woods from winning his 15th career major, and first of the year.

Henrik Stenson, who captured The Players Championship in May, had a 68 and was in the group at 4-under 212 along with US Open champion Lucas Glover (71).

Ernie Els pulled within one shot of the lead until he finished with three straight bogeys, leaving him with a 70 and five shots behind. He was disgusted with the end of his round, although the Big Easy spoke for so many others about the outlook on Sunday.

“You could really feel that there's a real championship going on around you,'' Els said. “It's not a runaway deal. Looked like a runaway thing at the end of yesterday. But it looks like the guys are really set to give Tiger a go, and the crowd could sense that.''

Third round scores:
208 – Tiger Woods 67-70-71
210 – Yang Yong-Eun (KOR) 73-70-67, Padraig Harrington (IRL) 68-73-69
212 – Henrik Stenson (SWE) 73-71-68, Lucas Glover 71-70-71
213 – Soren Kjeldsen (DEN) 70-73-70, Ernie Els (RSA) 75-68-70
214 – John Rollins 73-73-68, Alvaro Quiros (ESP) 69-76-69, Martin Kaymer (GER) 73-70-71, Ross Fisher (ENG) 73-68-73, Brendan Jones (AUS) 71-70-73
215 – Stephen Ames (CAN) 74-71-70, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 71-73-71, Corey Pavin 73-71-71, Tim Clark (RSA) 76-68-71, Lee Westwood (ENG) 70-72-73
216 – Steve Flesch 74-73-69, Francesco Molinari (ITA) 74-73-69, Graeme McDowell (NIR) 70-75-71, David Toms 69-75-72, Vijay Singh (FIJ) 69-72-75
217 – Zach Johnson 74-73-70, Ben Crane 70-75-72, Michael Allen 74-71-72
218 – Retief Goosen (RSA) 77-71-70, Scott McCarron 75-72-71, Anthony Kim 73-74-71, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 76-70-72, Stewart Cink 73-73-72, Dustin Johnson 72-73-73, Hiroyuki Fujita (JPN) 71-74-73, Ben Curtis 73-72-73, KJ Choi (KOR) 73-72-73, Hunter Mahan 69-75-74, John Merrick 72-72-74, Ian Poulter (ENG) 72-70-76, Oliver Wilson (ENG) 74-72-72