In the absence of injured world number one Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh provided the spark for the fans at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Saturday. The heavyweight duo, hardly the best of friends, played in the final pairing of the third round and treated the galleries at Firestone Country Club to an intriguing head-to-head for much of the day. Fijian Singh held a one-stroke advantage at the tournament's midway point but will go into Sunday's final round tied for the lead with American Mickelson and Britain's Lee Westwood. “We both played well,” Singh told reporters of his day in Mickelson's company. “He hit a lot of good iron shots and made some nice putts. Hopefully we can do the same tomorrow. “I feel pretty good, a little disappointed,” the former world number one added after carding a one-under-par 69 for an eight-under tally of 202. Singh and Mickelson were involved in a well documented spat over spike marks at the 2005 Masters and have maintained an ice-cool relationship ever since. Mickelson, whose steel spikes were deemed to be too long by Singh at Augusta National three years ago, described Saturday's round as “fun” after shooting a 68. “The crowd was great to both me and Vijay. It was a great day. “We both birdied 15, we both birdied 16 and I thought both of us played okay, played pretty good,” he said of their duel for supremacy over the back nine. “We could have been better, could have been worse. Tomorrow will be a fun shootout.” Romero takes charge Argentina's Eduardo Romero tapped in a three-foot biride putt at the last for a five-under-par 65 to take a two-stroke lead in the US Senior Open third round in Colorado Springs on Saturday. The 54-year-old from Cordoba set the tone for a memorable day with birdies on the first three holes before posting a nine-under total of 201. Overnight leader Fred Funk carded a 69 to slip back into second place at seven under, one ahead of fellow American John Cook (66). One of the most popular professionals on Tour, Funk said he had enjoyed playing with the long-hitting Romero in Saturday's third round. McLachlin eyes title Parker McLachlin took a big step toward winning his first career PGA Tour event after firing a six-under 66 in the third round of the Reno-Tahoe Open on Saturday. The 29-year-old birdied his final two holes at Montreux Golf & Country Club in Reno, Nevada to move to 20-under par and open up a six-shot cushion over Briton Brian Davis. Honolulu native McLachlin, coming off a course-record tying 62 in the second round, holed-out from the fairway to eagle the par-4 5th and move to three-under for the day. He also piled up five birdies with just one bogey. Davis managed to climb to 14-under par despite a double bogey on the third. He fought back with a six-hole stretch that included three birdies and an eagle. American John Rollins is third at 10-under par, 10 shots behind the leader, with John Merrick and Australian Andrew Buckle tied at nine-under.
