Sergio Garcia repelled a spectacular charge from American Steve Stricker to accelerate into a three-stroke lead after the British Open third round on Saturday.

The 27-year-old Spaniard, who has been in front since day one, moved within touching distance of his first major victory by carding a 68 for 204, nine under.

Stricker powered through the field to take second spot on 207 after equalling Colin Montgomerie's course record of 64, seven under.

The Carnoustie crowd may be about to witness a final-day shootout between Garcia and Stricker, with seven players sharing third place on 210 including South African Ernie Els.

Also on three under were Americans Chris DiMarco and Stewart Cink, Irish pair Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley, Briton Paul Broadhurst and South Korean KJ Choi. Garcia, who did not drop a stroke all day, had a scare at the 17th when he hit a photographer after hooking his approach into the rough.

World number one Tiger Woods, aiming for a hat-trick of Open wins, returned an eventful 69 for 212. Woods's ball struck a female spectator on the head at the sixth hole and she needed two stitches in the wound. The American bogeyed the second but birdies at the fourth and fifth and another at the seventh sent him to the turn in a two-under 34.

Jeev misses cut
Jeev Milkha Singh missed the cut for the first time in a major in his career on Friday.

Jeev, playing his first British Open, made a big improvement on his opening round score with a 73 on the second day, but it was not enough to keep him at the season’s third major. Jeev ended with rounds of 77 and 73 for an eight-over 150, way beyond the cut line of four-over-par 146.

Completed III round scores (US unless mentioned): 204: Sergio Garcia (ESP, 65, 71, 68); 207: Steve Stricker (71, 72, 64); 210: Chris DiMarco (74, 70, 66), Paul McGinley (Ire, 67, 75, 68), Stewart Cink (69, 73, 68), Padraig Harrington (Ire, 69, 73, 68), Ernie Els (SA, 72, 70, 68), Paul Broadhurst (Bri, 71, 71, 68), KJ Choi (Korea, 69, 69, 72); 211: Vijay Singh (Fiji, 72, 71, 68), Andres Romero (Arg, 71, 70, 70), Jim Furyk (70, 70, 71), Mike Weir (Can, 71, 68, 72), Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP, 69, 70, 72); 212: Pelle Edberg (Swe, 72, 73, 67), Justin Rose (Bri, 75, 70, 67), Rich Beem (70, 73, 69), Tiger Woods (69, 74, 69), JJ Henry (70, 71, 71); 213: Markus Brier (Aus, 68, 75, 70), Nick Watney (72, 71, 70), Lucas Glover (71, 72, 70), Angel Cabrera (Arg, 68, 73, 72); 214: Zach Johnson (73, 73, 68), Nick Dougherty (Bri, 71, 74, 69), Paul Casey (Bri, 72, 73, 69); Pat Perez (73, 70, 71), Rod Pampling (Aus, 70, 72, 72), Retief Goosen (SA, 70, 71, 73), Lee Westwood (Bri, 71, 70, 73); 215: Hunter Mahan (73, 73, 69), Jonathan Byrd (73, 72, 70), Richard Green (Aus, 72, 73, 70), Jerry Kelly (74, 70, 71), Adam Scott (Aus, 73, 70, 72), Boo Weekley (68, 72, 75); 216: Lee Won-joon (Aus, 73, 73, 70), Ian Poulter (Bri, 73, 73, 70), Ben Curtis (72, 74, 70), Shaun Micheel (70, 76, 70), Charley Hoffman (75, 69, 72), Ross Bain (Bri, 73, 71, 72), Arron Oberholser (73, 71, 72), Mark Calcavecchia (74, 70, 72); 217: John Senden (Aus, 72, 74, 71), Brian Davis (Bri, 74, 72, 71), Scott Verplank (72, 73, 72),  Rory McIlroy (Bri, 68, 76, 73), Niclas Fasth (Swe, 75, 69, 73); 218: Michael Campbell (NZ, 68, 78, 72), Carl Pettersson (Swe, 70, 75, 73), Ryan Moore (72, 72, 74); 219: Mark Foster (Bri, 76, 70, 73), David Howell (Bri, 72, 76, 73), Luke Donald (Bri, 70, 76, 73), Sandy Lyle (Bri, 73, 73, 73), Thomas Bjorn (Den, 70, 75, 74), Anders Hansen (Den, 72, 73, 74), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra, 74, 69, 76), Gregory Bourdy (Fra, 70, 72, 77), Alastair Forsyth (Bri, 70, 71, 78); 220: Tom Lehman (73, 73, 74), Kevin Stadler (75, 71, 74).