TIGER WOODS recovered from an uncertain start to his third round, including two bogeys in six holes, at Congressional Country Club in Maryland. Woods shot a level-par 70 and now shares the lead with fellow American Anthony Kim, the defending champion, on 10 under par, one shot clear of the field.

Having led at halfway by a shot from Australia’s Rod Pampling, Woods bogeyed the first, encouraging his rivals in front of large crowds celebrating Independence Day. A second bogey was rectified by a birdie on eight and eagle on nine to regain the lead but Woods stumbled again on the 11th hole with a double-bogey six. A birdie four on the 16th restored him to 10 under for the tournament and left him level with Kim, who went round in 68 with four birdies and two bogeys.

They lead by a shot from compatriot Michael Allen, whose 65 was the best of the day, and Cameron Beckman, while Jim Furyk and Pampling both stand on eight under. On a leaderboard dominated by Americans, Lucas Glover, who won the US Open last month, is three spots off the lead. Justin Rose is the leading British player on three under par after shooting a 69.

IAN POULTER produced a third-round surge in the French Open to suggest he should not be considered out of title contention in Paris or for The Open, which starts a week on Thursday at Turnberry. Poulter shot 66 to improve from 31st to 10th.

Hoping to find form to improve on his second place at Royal Birkdale last year, the Englishman is five shots behind leader Rafa Echenique, who has a lot of work to do to claim his first European Tour title after adding a 70 to his opening rounds of 65 and 67. England’s Paul Waring, another seeking his maiden win on the circuit, is two strokes back in third following a 68, while former amateur teammate Seve Benson matched that score to be alongside Australian left-hander Richard Green and Swede Peter Hanson in fourth.

Lee Westwood remains four strokes behind after a round of 70 that sent him straight to the practice putting green. Waring and Benson are battling not just for the title in Paris, but also the one Open spot up for grabs this week. Colin Montgomerie climbed 51 places with a day’s best 65. He urged people not to dismiss his chances of figuring prominently in what could be his last Open.

‘I was eighth there in 1994 and The Open gives me my best opportunity if it’s fast-running,’ he said after a display which included a 97-yard pitch into the sixth hole for an eagle two.

TREVOR IMMELMAN and Robert Karlsson, last year’s Masters champion and last year’s European No 1, are unlikely to play in The Open. The pair have withdrawn from this week’s Scottish Open, which starts on Thursday at Loch Lomond. South African Immelman, who has been battling tendinitis in his left wrist and elbow, did not compete throughout June. Swede Karlsson’s last tournament was the European Open in May. He has been diagnosed with fluid behind the retina of his left eye.

CRICKET

PAKISTAN switched effortlessly from Twenty20 to Tests as they had the better of the opening day of the first match of three against Sri Lanka at Galle. After winning the toss, Pakistan, who were crowned World Twenty20 champions at Lord’s last month with a victory over Sri Lanka, bowled out the home side for 292.

It was two debutants who did the damage. Mohammad Aamer claimed three wickets — including Malinda Warnapura in his first over — and Abdur Rauf two. Captain Younis Khan, a part-time spinner, also took two wickets. Thilan Samaraweera, in his first match since he was shot in the leg in the Lahore terror attack, was one of Younis’ wickets. The right-hander, who has kept the bullet as a souvenir, scored 31. In reply, Pakistan slipped to 15-2, losing openers Salman Butt and Khurram Manzoor.

OXFORD UCCE beat Cambridge UCCE by six wickets in the one-day Varsity Match at Lord’s. Cambridge, who chose to bat first, were blown away for 123 with 9.5 overs of their 50 unused.

TOURING CARS

GABRIELE TARQUINI claimed pole position for Seat before today’s seventh round of the World Touring Car Championship in Porto. The Italian’s best lap of two minutes 9.308sec was just enough to pip Britain’s Rob Huff to the top of the timesheet by less than a 10th of a second.

SUPERBIKES

JOSH BROOKES powered to his first British Superbike Championship pole with a blistering lap around Knockhill to head off the threat of series leader Leon Camier. Brookes edged out Camier by almost one-third of a second.

MOTOGP

Championship leader Valentino Rossi was quickest in practice for the World Championship race at Laguna Seca in California. The Italian, looking for a third consecutive victory , finished 0.112sec ahead of teammate Jorge Lorenzo and 0.189sec clear of Casey Stoner in third. Britain’s James Toseland was 13th quickest.