Woods, grimacing with every step over the final hour in sunshine, lightly pumped his fist and smiled when his 30-foot eagle on the final hole broke sharply to the right down the hill and straightened in time to fall into the cup for his third eagle of the tournament.

There were other reasons to look so content.

“I’m done,” Woods said. “It was nice that I could finish this round.”

Then it was off to his room to ice his left knee, hopeful he can make it through 18 more holes in a major he hasn’t won in six years.

Not many would have guessed he would be in this position when he stood on the back of the 13th green, five shots out of the lead, facing a dangerously quick putt down the ridge from 70 feet. It was reminiscent of his putt on the 17th green at Sawgrass in 2001, minus the island. The line was perfect, speeding down the slope and bending sharply to the left in the final foot for an unlikely eagle.

Woods turned and pumped both fists, walking briskly.

But it was the tee shot two holes later where the pain could no longer be disguised. He took his hand off the driver immediately and bent to the ground, balancing himself with his right finger twice. Two holes later, he again failed to get through the swing and sent his tee shot well to the right, again doubling over.

Woods put his approach on the 17th into thick grass between a bunker and the green, giving him an awkward stance with his weight on the painful left side. The flop shot came out hot, and Woods looked concerned as he barked out instruction: “Bite!”

It took one hop and disappeared in the bottom of the cup, and Woods broke into embarrassing laughter as caddie Steve Williams held out his hand to help him onto the green.

“It was just exciting all day,” Mediate said. “It was cool to be a part of that.”

The third round sure didn’t shape up to contain that much excitement at the start.

Woods opened with a double bogey for the second time in three days, but he wasn’t alone in his misery.

Stuart Appleby, who had a one-shot lead to start the third round, took four putts from 18 feet on No. 5 for a double bogey and turned a 3-foot birdie into a three-putt bogey on the ninth. He made his only birdie on the 18th hole to break 80.

D.J. Trahan three-putted for par on the 18th hole and threw his ball in the pond after a 73, leaving him at 1-over 214 along with former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, who overcame a double bogey on the 14th for a 72.

Phil Mickelson finally put a driver in his bag, but it was the wedge that ended his dream of a U.S. Open victory in his hometown. In a “Tin Cup” moment without the water, Lefty watched three lob wedge shots from 80 yards roll back to his feet on the par-5 13th before the fourth stayed up, and then he three-putted for a quadruple-bogey 9 — his highest score in 1,206 holes at the U.S. Open — on his way to a 76. He was at 10-over 223.

“I’ve had a 9 on 13,” Mickelson said. “I was 8 years old. I have had a 9 there.”

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