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Scott takes the lead at British Open
Adam Scott 4 shots up after 3 rounds
AdamScott
Adam Scott, of Australia, plays a shot out of the bunker on the 17th hole at Royal Lytham & St. Annes golf club during the third round of the British Open Golf Championship at Lytham St. Annes, England, on Saturday. - photo by Associated Press

British Open Scores
Saturday
At Royal Lytham & St. Annes
Lytham St. Annes, England
Purse: $7.75 million
Yardage: 7,086; Par: 70
Third Round
a-amateur
Adam Scott        64-67-68—199
Graeme McDowell    67-69-67—203
Brandt Snedeker    66-64-73—203
Tiger Woods    67-67-70—204
Zach Johnson    65-74-66—205
Ernie Els        67-70-68—205
Thorbjorn Olesen    69-66-71—206
Bill Haas        71-68-68—207
Thomas Aiken    68-68-71—207
Bubba Watson    67-73-68—208
Louis Oosthuizen    72-68-68—208
Mark Calcavecchia    71-68-69—208
Matt Kuchar    69-67-72—208
Dustin Johnson    73-68-71—209
Kyle Stanley    70-69-70—209
Luke Donald    70-68-71—209
Jason Dufner    70-66-73—209
Vijay Singh        70-72-68—210
Nick Watney    71-70-69—210
Anirban Lahiri    68-72-70—210
Simon Khan    70-69-71—210
Greg Chalmers    71-68-71—210
James Morrison    68-70-72—210
Steven Alker    69-69-72—210
Keegan Bradley    71-72-68—211
Matthew Baldwin    69-73-69—211
Justin Hicks        68-74-69—211
Alexander Noren    71-71-69—211
Hunter Mahan    70-71-70—211
Thomas Bjorn    70-69-72—211
Peter Hanson    67-72-72—211
Steve Stricker    67-71-73—211
Joost Luiten        73-70-69—212
Padraig Harrington    70-72-70—212
Harris English    71-71-70—212
Francesco Molinari    69-72-71—212
Dale Whitnell    71-69-72—212
Jamie Donaldson    68-72-72—212
Garth Mulroy    71-69-72—212
Simon Dyson    72-67-73—212
Carl Pettersson    71-68-73—212
Paul Lawrie        65-71-76—212
Rickie Fowler    71-72-70—213
Gary Woodland    73-70-70—213
Troy Matteson    70-72-71—213
Rafael Echenique    73-69-71—213
Jim Furyk        72-70-71—213
Branden Grace    73-69-71—213
Greg Owen    71-71-71—213
Ian Poulter        71-69-73—213
Miguel Angel Jimenez    71-69-73—213
Geoff Ogilvy    72-68-73—213
Toshinori Muto    67-72-74—213
Lee Westwood    73-70-71—214
Adilson Da Silva    69-74-71—214
Sang-moon Bae    72-71-71—214
K.J. Choi        70-73-71—214
Pablo Larrazabal    73-70-71—214
Nicolas Colsaerts    65-77-72—214
Gonzalo Frndz-Cstno    71-71-72—214
Yoshinori Fujimoto    71-70-73—214
Thongchai Jaidee    69-71-74—214
Ted Potter Jr.    69-71-74—214
Brendan Jones    69-74-72—215
Fredrik Jacobson    69-73-73—215
Rory McIlroy    67-75-73—215
Richard Sterne    69-73-73—215
Bob Estes        69-72-74—215
Retief Goosen    70-70-75—215
Juvic Pagunsan    71-72-73—216
Aaron Baddeley    71-71-74—216
Warren Bennett    71-70-75—216
John Senden    70-71-75—216
Lee Slattery        69-72-75—216
Andres Romero    70-69-77—216
Chad Campbell    73-70-74—217
Ross Fisher        72-71-74—217
Charles Howell III    72-71-74—217
Rafael Cabrera-Bello    70-71-76—217
Jeev Milkha Singh    70-71-76—217
Tom Watson    71-72-76—219
John Daly        72-71-77—220
Martin Laird    70-69-82—221


    LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England — Adam Scott has never had a better chance to end that long wait for a major championship — mostly because of that long putter.
    Scott stayed in the game early with two key par saves, pulled away with three birdies around the turn and was solid at the end Saturday for a 2-under 68 that gave him a four-shot lead going into today's final round at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.
    "It was all pretty solid stuff, considering the circumstances and how much trouble there is on this golf course," Scott said.
    The golf course, even without wind for three days, swallowed up Brandt Snedeker during a 10-hole stretch in the middle of the round and nearly knocked him out of contention.
    This is the fourth time in the last nine majors that someone took at least a four-shot lead into the final round. The only player who failed to win was Rory McIlroy at the Masters in 2011.
    But this Open was far from over.
    Scott narrowly missed a 20-foot birdie putt on the final hole that would have given him a share of the 54-hole Open scoring record. He settled for 11-under 199 and will play in the final group with Graeme McDowell, who had a 67 to get into the final group for the second straight time at a major.
    Snedeker birdied two of his last three holes to salvage a 73 and was tied with McDowell.
    Right behind them were three major champions, starting with the guy who has won 14 of them. Tiger Woods recovered from a sloppy start and was within three shots of the lead on the front nine until Scott pulled away. Woods missed a short par putt on the 15th and didn't give himself many good looks at birdie on the back nine for a 70, leaving him five shots behind. Woods has never won a major when trailing going into the last round.
    Three-time major champion Ernie Els was solid in his round of 68 and was six back, along with former Masters champion Zach Johnson, who had a 66.
    Even so, the biggest challenge might be the weather. If the forecast holds true — and there's been no reason to believe that — the greatest defense of links golf could finally arrive with wind projected to gust up to 25 mph.
    "It will be in Adam's hands tomorrow if the conditions are as straightforward as they have been the last few days," McDowell said. "Throw a bit of wind across this course like perhaps they are forecasting, he will have to go and work a lot harder and he will have to go win it.
    "He's going to have to go win it anyway, for sure."
    McDowell was seven shots behind as he walked up to the 13th green and found three birdies coming in to get into the last group, just as he was at Olympic Club last month in the U.S. Open, where he was one putt away from forcing a playoff.
    Snedeker opened this championship by playing 40 holes without a bogey, and then he couldn't buy a par. He had to blast backward out of a bunker, chunked a pitch shot from the fairway, missed short putts and was reeling. He started with a one-shot lead and was six shots behind after only 11 holes. Snedeker rolled in a birdie on the 16th and stretched out his arms in mock wonder, and then finished with a birdie that could bode well for today.
    "It's just one of those things where you've got to find out if you have some guts or don't," he said. "I could have packed up and gone home today, but I didn't."