NORTON, Mass. (AP) — Tiger Woods couldn’t make enough putts to catch up with the players who couldn’t miss.

Sean O’Hair and Jim Furyk set the pace Saturday at the Deutsche Bank Championship and brought Retief Goosen along for the ride. That threesome combined to make 17 birdies and one eagle, finishing two rounds at a combined 34-under par.

All that counted was the individual scoring, which wasn’t bad, either.

O’Hair ran off six birdies and an eagle during an eight-hole stretch in the middle of his round for a 7-under 64, giving him a share of the lead with Furyk, who had six birdies to offset a few mistakes for a 67.

They were at 12-under 130.

“We saw a lot of good golf and a lot of good golf shots,” Furyk said. “And obviously, I saw some putts go in.”

Woods arrived later in the day, and instead of making a charge, he flirted with missing the cut. He was on the verge of going below the cut line when he faced a 12-foot par on No. 9, a tricky 5-foot putt on the 10th and a 20-foot par putt on the 11th after gouging a shot out of a plugged lie in the bunker. He made them all, then ran off four birdies over his final seven holes for a 67.

That left the No. 1 player still stewing over three birdies he missed inside 10 feet on the back nine, realizing that he needed to make up as much ground as the could. Woods was seven shots behind.

“They haven’t been lipping in, they’ve been lipping out,” Woods said. “That’s about par for the course right now. Today is one of those days where I could have gone really low.”

That was left to just about everyone else.

Nearly half of the 99-man field shot in the 60s, with Marc Leishman improving his hopes of advancing in the FedEx Cup playoffs with a tournament-low 62 that left him two shots out of the lead, along with Goosen.

Scott Verplank made an eagle for the second straight day on his way to a 68, leaving him in a group of players at 9-under 133 that included Justin Leonard, Mike Weir, Kevin Sutherland and John Senden, who recorded the rarest shot in golf. Senden made a double eagle on the par-5 second hole, holing out from 250 yards with a 4-iron. He shot a 64.

“It looked like it was just going to roll to the back of the green or just over the back,” Senden said. “And then when the I saw the cheers go up, I knew it was in the hole, so it was exciting.”

Most of the excitement came in the morning, however, as O’Hair, Furyk and Goosen lit up the scoreboard in pristine conditions. The best viewing belonged to Geoff Ogilvy in the group behind them.

“When you’re watching the group ahead of you throwing birdie after birdie, you know you have to keep making them,” said Ogilvy, who managed a 68 and was in the large group at 8-under 134.

O’Hair has been stuck in neutral most of the summer, doing a lot of things right except putting together good scores. He was determined to stay patient, and he needed that in a group that was pouring in birdie putts.

“It can either help your or it can really hurt you,” O’Hair said. “If you get impatient out there, it can be a detriment. But with the attitude I had out there the last couple of days, it was nice.”

Furyk, winless in more than two years, went 25 consecutive holes without missing a green until he found a fairway bunker on No. 15 that led to bogey. Even so, he was steady as ever and feeling better about his chance of ending his drought. He has never gone two consecutive seasons without winning since he joined the PGA Tour.

“I didn’t expect to go out there and hit 13 fairways and 18 greens today,” he said. “I hit a few bad shots, got loose once in a while, but was able to score well all day.”

Everyone in his group did that. There were only five holes where no one made birdie.

Steve Stricker shared the 18-hole lead with Furyk and appeared to be on his way toward catching him with consecutive birdies as he was approaching the turn. That changed with one bad tee shot and several missed putts inside 6 feet.

Woods, meanwhile, didn’t need a leaderboard to realize he was hovering around the cut at 1 under.

“I saw a lot of media guys out there, so I thought I’d better turn this thing around and make them go away,” he said.

It started with pars on three straight holes, starting at No. 9. After that, Woods hit everything inside 12 feet and made some, although he was increasing frustrated by missed birdie chances of 7 feet at No. 13, 10 feet at No. 15 and 10 feet at no. 17.

He was at 5-under 137 needing a low round Sunday to get back into the mix for the Labor Day finishes. And as the first two days have shown, low scores certainly are out there.

Sweden’s Alexander Noren leads European Masters

CRANS-SUR-SIERRE, Switzerland (AP) – Alexander Noren of Sweden shot an 8-under 63 Saturday to take a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the European Masters.

Noren was at 15-under 198 in his bid for his first European tour victory. Charl Schwartzel of South Africa was at 200 after a 65. Bradley Dredge of Wales shot a 68 and was three shots back.

Second-round leader Thomas Aiken of South Africa (75) and first-round leader Brett Rumford of Australia (72) were nine shots behind.

Noren took the lead with an eagle at the 15th and birdies at the 16th and 18th.

“Today I was calmer within myself, more letting it happen,” he said.

Schwartzel had eight birdies, including one with a 35-foot putt at the 14th. He three-putted from 3 feet for bogey at No. 7.

Angelo Que of the Philippines trails by four strokes in a tournament sanctioned by the European and Asian tours.

“I was fortunate to play and make the cut,” he said. “It’s big. I imagine myself carrying the Asian tour flag and I’ll try to make them even more proud.”

Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who lost a playoff for the European Masters last year, had a 70 and was 10 strokes off the lead.

“I hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in, that I felt were going in but just peeled off at the end,” he said. “Just one of those days.”

Pettersen takes 5-shot lead in Canada

PRIDDIS, Alberta (AP) – Suzann Pettersen moved into position to end her 43-tournament winless streak, shooting a 5-under 66 on Saturday at windy Priddis Greens to take a five-stroke lead into the final round of the Canadian Women’s Open.

The tall Norwegian had a 14-under 199 total after opening with rounds of 65 and 68. She won all five of her LPGA Tour titles in 2007, and has six runner-up finishes since, including a playoff loss last week in Oregon.

Angela Stanford was second after a 69, and Karrie Webb (65) was another stroke back. Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa (72) and In-Kyung Kim (69) were 7 under. Song-Hee Kim followed her tournament-record 62 with a 77 to drop into a tie for 21st at 3 under.

Pettersen is taking an aggressive approach.

“I’m not trying to hold on to anything,” she said. “I’m just going to see how low (I) can go. There should be no limitations on how deep you can go on this course.”

Pettersen’s lead was six or more for much of the afternoon, but Stanford rolled in a 60-foot eagle putt on the final hole to draw a little closer.

If Stanford needs some inspiration, she only needs to revisit her own experience in the 2006 tournament at London Hunt. She took a four-shot lead into the final round that year and ended up losing the tournament by a stroke to Cristie Kerr – a player who started eight shots back on Sunday.

“I thought about that coming off the tee box here on 18,” said Stanford. “You never know.”

Pettersen opened with the sparkling 65 in windy conditions Thursday afternoon, then pulled away Saturday when only 19 of the 74 players broke par.

“It seems like the harder the conditions, the more creative I get with my shots,” Pettersen said. “I’m kind of trying to stay in control of the ball flight. I keep rolling the putts in. You’ve just got to be really patient out here.”

There’s only one wish she has for the final day’s weather forecast: “As long as it doesn’t snow, I’m happy.”

Pettersen actually got off to a slow start with some loose shots and a bogey at the third hole. After calming down and finding a rhythm, she went on to pick up six shots over the final 14 holes.

There’s no secret about what it will take to beat her on Sunday.

“I’m going to play ahead of her and hopefully make a few birdies to get a low round,” Ochoa said. “You never know how it’s going to happen.”

A few of the other challengers are hoping the big lead ends up getting to Pettersen when she returns to the course.

“She’s out there by herself,” Webb said. “And sometimes that’s a bit of a daunting task. … You know you don’t have to do anything stupid – attack pins and stuff like that – so sometimes that takes you out of your game plan.”

Added Stanford: “If you have a four- or five-shot lead then somebody’s got to make at least five or six (birdies) to beat you. You don’t have to make as many so you tell yourself you don’t have to make as many.”

Pettersen planned to spend Saturday night watching some U.S. Open tennis before going to bed early for a good night’s sleep.

“Hopefully, I won’t have nightmares,” Pettersen said.

 
Canadian Women’s Open

PRIDDIS, Alberta (AP) – Suzann Pettersen moved into position to end her 43-tournament winless streak, shooting a 5-under 66 at windy Priddis Greens to take a five-stroke lead into the final round of the Canadian Women’s Open.

The tall Norwegian had a 14-under 199 total after opening with rounds of 65 and 68. She won all five of her LPGA Tour titles in 2007, and has six runner-up finishes since, including a playoff loss last week in Oregon.

Angela Stanford was second after a 69, and Karrie Webb (65) was another stroke back. Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa (72) and In-Kyung Kim (69) were 7 under. Song-Hee Kim followed her tournament-record 62 with a 77 to drop into a tie for 21st at 3 under.