Tiger stumbles as Merritt, Chappell share PGA lead

Tiger stumbles as Merritt, Chappell share PGA lead

GAINESVILLE (UNITED STATES) - Troy Merritt fired a tournament record 10-under par 61 Saturday to share the lead at the PGA Quicken Loans National while Tiger Woods struggled and fell out of contention.

Troy Merritt hits his second shot on the 14th hole during the third round of the Quicken Loans National at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on August 1, 2015 in Gainesville, Virginia

Merritt, a 29-year-old American ranked 180th in the world, birdied the first five holes and finished with 11 birdies against a lone bogey in the third round at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

That left Merritt level with countryman Kevin Chappell atop the leaderboard on 14-under 199 after 54 holes with US star Rickie Fowler one stroke back.

Fowler is coming off wins at the Players Championship in May and the Scottish Open three weeks ago while Merritt and Chappell each seek their first PGA title.

"The big thing is we put ourselves in contention and that was the goal," Merritt said. "I hit the ball really well and got a lot out of it. I think we're going to have a decent chance."

The old tournament record of 62 was shared by Americans Hunter Mahan and Anthony Kim from 2009 at Congressional Country Club and Nick Watney from 2011 at Aroniminik.

Tournament host Woods sprayed shots all day on his way to a 74 to finish on 208, sharing 42nd after starting the day sharing fifth.

Woods, a 14-time major champion who has not won a major since the 2008 US Open, is on a two-year win drought after struggling with injuries and swing changes the past two seasons.

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