Ben Curtis Surprise Leader Midway Through Final Round Of British

SANDWICH, England (AP) Ben Curtis was the stunning leader of the British Open midway through the final round Sunday, moving to the front against some of the biggest names in golf.

Thomas Bjorn, who began the day with a one-stroke lead, trailed Curtis by a shot at the turn, while players such as Tiger Woods and Davis Love III were fading.

Curtis, a rookie on the PGA Tour, birdied three straight holes to grab the lead all to himself, beginning the run with a brilliant iron shot at No. 9. He was left with little more than a tap-in from 2 feet.

He followed with a 25-footer at the 10th and a 7-footer on the 11th to go 5 under for the tournament. Curtis gave back a stroke with his first bogey of the day, three-putting No. 12.

Bjorn played well on the front side with a 2-under 34, going to 3 under overall. The Dane started the round with a bogey, then rolled in an 18-foot birdie putt at the fourth and made a great chip from behind the green at 7 to set up a short birdie putt.

Bjorn was atop a star-studded leaderboard after the third round, being chased by Love, Woods, Vijay Singh, Kenny Perry and Sergio Garcia. They all were within two strokes of the lead.

Curtis was the only other player that close to Bjorn, but no one gave the 26-year-old Ohio native much of a chance against that level of competition.

Curtis spent the last two years on the Hooters Tour and only qualified for the British with a 13th-place finish at the Western Open two weeks ago - the best showing of his young career.

He could become the first player to claim his first victory at a major since John Daly won the 1991 PGA Championship.

Woods has won eight majors but came to the British without a major title for the time since 1999. He got his score as low as 2 under, but his chances began to fade with a three-putt bogey at the eighth.

Love was just one shot behind Woods at the start of the round, but he struggled on the front nine for the second day in a row. He bogeyed four holes before the turn, including No. 4, a short par-5.

Three-time British winner Nick Faldo electrified the English gallery by playing the first 14 holes at 4 under. But two straight bogeys hurt his chances as he neared the end of the round.

Singh shot 33 on the front side to reach 2 under, but couldn't sink a 5-footer to save par at the 10th.

Garcia and Perry played the easier front side over par, hurting their chances.