Big names chasing unheralded Hamilton at Royal Troon

Rich Beem. Shaun Micheel. Ben Curtis. Why not Todd Hamilton? Setting the stage for another possible major shocker, Hamilton, an American known only by hard-core golf fans, shot himself to the top of the leaderboard at the 133rd Open Championship with a second straight 67 Saturday that left him alone at 8-under. But several of the game's biggest stars are within striking distance.

TROON, Scotland (AP) -- Some of the biggest names in golf surged onto the leaderboard Saturday in the British Open, where a little-known American took the lead during the third round.

Todd Hamilton hit it to within a few feet of the hole for birdie on No. 14 to move into the lead for the first time, but he had a lot of players with some pedigree just behind him.

Tiger Woods was one of them, shooting a 68 to get to 4-under-par, four back of Hamilton. Masters champion Phil Mickelson was on the course just two shots back, while U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen and Ernie Els were another shot behind.

Hamilton played for years on the Japanese tour before earning his PGA Tour card this year and winning the Honda Classic. He started the day 4 under and made four birdies against no bogeys through the 14th hole.

Thomas Levet of France appeared to be on his way to a commanding lead, but 3-putted from 12 feet for double bogey on the 11th hole to fall back.

Hometown hero Colin Montgomerie was also in contention, four shots back through 14 holes despite a number of wayward shots.

Mickelson and Woods made moves early on a day when squalls dumped rain on the seaside Royal Troon course.

Woods got to 5 under with a birdie on the seventh hole, but played the last 12 holes 1 over to finish at 4 under with a round of 68.

Second-round leader Skip Kendall, meanwhile, was 6 under, 1 over for the day, through 11 holes.

Mickelson birdied three holes on the front nine to get to 6 under, two shots behind Levet, then survived a scare when his tee shot nearly went out of bounds on the 15th hole.

Rain soaked the course overnight, and players took advantage of the softer conditions with aggressive shots at the hole.

Kendall, however, made a bogey on the opening hole while Levet made birdies on the third and fifth holes to take over the lead.

Woods, meanwhile, made a 12-footer for birdie on the first hole, knocked it to 2 feet on the second and had an eagle putt of about 20 feet on the fourth that he just missed. He added a birdie on the seventh hole after pitching it about 10 feet by and making the putt coming back.

The moves by the top players upset what had been an unlikely leaderboard midway through the Open.

Kendall is 0-for-310 on the PGA Tour, the kind of streak that usually doesn't end in a major championship. But considering Ben Curtis won the Open last year in his first major championship, stranger things have happened.

"I think it's just a matter of time," Kendall said. "Hopefully, this will be mine."

Kendall, who had a mid-afternoon tee time, had to play in a qualifier just to get in the field, and was largely overlooked in the first round despite turning in a nice 2-under 69. But the 39-year-old American made everyone notice with an eagle on the 16th hole Friday on his way to a 66 and a one-shot lead over Levet.

And he has a good feeling he can do it again.

"This isn't my first rodeo," said Kendall, a 10-year tour veteran. "You just go play golf and hopefully play well."

No matter what happens on the weekend, the cheesehead from Wisconsin has had a pretty good trip overseas already. He brought along his mother to celebrate her 80th birthday and got a thrill when he shook hands with Prince Andrew behind the 11th green during his first round on Thursday.

"I think the main thing for me is I just need to stay relaxed and have fun out there," Kendall said. "The golf will take care of itself. But for me, it's all about staying relaxed and having that kind of calmness, I guess, inside."

Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.