Norman clings to lead at British Open back 9

Despite a shaky front side, Greg Norman was nine holes away from becoming the oldest major champion in golf history.

The 53-year-old Aussie, who started the blustery final round with a two-stroke advantage, quickly gave it up with bogeys on the first three holes. Another bogey before the turn sent him past the Royal Birkdale clubhouse with a 4-over 38, pushing his total to 6 over.

That was still good enough to the lead.

Defending champion Padraig Harrington, who surged to the top of the board with six straight pars, suddenly ran into trouble with his putter. The Irishman missed par attempts of 8, 5 and 12 feet, dropping to 7 over and allowing Norman to reclaim the lead.

K.J. Choi, the 36-hole leader and just two strokes off the lead at the start of the day, was having a miserable round on the greens, missing one short putt after another to make the turn with a 6-over 40. The South Korean was at 10 over and barely hanging on.

English favorite Ian Poulter got into contention with 1 over through 13 holes, leaving him tied with countryman Simon Wakefield at 8 over.

Henrik Stenson of Sweden and two Americans, 23-year-old Anthony Kim and 2003 British Open champion Ben Curtis, were at 9 over and still in contention. Kim had a remarkable stretch of 17 holes _ the last 12 on Saturday, the first five on Sunday _ without making worse than par.

Now a part-time player, Norman was at 2-over 212 through three days and seeking to become the oldest major champion in golf history. Julius Boros was 48 when he won the PGA Championship in 1968.

The Shark had not taken a lead into the last round of a major since the 1996 Masters, where his epic collapse cleared the way for Nick Faldo to claim the green jacket. Harrington and Choi started at 214.

Wearing a black cap and sweater, Norman landed in a pot bunker with his approach at No. 1 and barely reached the green with his blast-out, sand blowing in his face. He missed about a 25-footer to save par, the ball skidding over the right edge of the cup.

Norman took another bogey at the second after driving into the beaten-down rough left of the fairway, then pulling a 6-iron left of the green between two bunkers. The chip rolled 6 feet past the cup, and Norman missed the downhill putt to lose another stroke.

At No. 3, more of the same. Norman drove into the rough again and wound up missing an 8-foot putt, after Harrington had calmly rolled in a 12-footer that pushed him into the lead all by himself. Norman, who was at 2-over 212 through three rounds, slipped to 5 over.

The most surprising performance was being turned in by Chris Wood, a 20-year-old English amateur. He shot a 1-under 33 on the front side to climb into contention at 7 over, but his long-shot hopes appeared to fade with three straight bogeys on the back.

The last amateur to win the Open was Bobby Jones in 1930.

No one broke par in the third round, but that changed for the early starters Sunday. David Howell fired a 3-under 67, equaling the second-best score of the week. Thomas Aiken shot 68, while Ernie Els and Robert Karlsson both posted 69s. Even David Duval bounced back, making 71 after an ugly 83 sent him tumbling out of contention the previous day.

The wind picked up, however, with forecasters calling for gusts up to 45 mph as the final groups were in the middle of their rounds. The scores reflected the tougher conditions, with no one under par in the afternoon.

Norman, who married tennis great Chris Evert last month, often contended for major titles during his prime, but rarely finished the job. He won two British Open titles, but another six times, he took leads to the final rounds of the Masters, U.S. Open or PGA Championship _ and didn't win any of them.

Norman had plenty of competition, including the Irishman who won the claret jug a year ago. Harrington was trying to become the first repeat winner from Europe in more than a century, and he looked very solid at the start. He nearly chipped in for birdie at the first hole, then rolled a long birdie putt at No. 2 right next to the hole for another tap-in par _ a good score on this day.

As if to show these were his kind of conditions, Harrington shed his wind jacket and played in a short-sleeved shirt while most of the other players bundled up on the sunny, windy day.