Els in line for Colorado joy

World number three Els has been in majestic form

Ernie Els maintained his eight-point lead after three days of The International in Colorado, but saw Phil Mickelson move up ominously on the rails.

South African Els added six points to his record-breaking halfway total of 32 - the tournament uses a modified Stableford scoring system - but Mickelson is threatening to push him all the way after picking up 14 points to move to joint-second.

He joined Australia's Greg Norman, who earned six points in only his third round since returning from a hip injury.

Spanish sensation Sergio Garcia and Australian Stuart Appleby are tied for fourth on 30 points, while Rochdale-born Edward Fryatt equalled Mickelson's day-three total to move up to sixth on 28.

Woods' absence

Sergio Garcia is the best-placed European

Nick Faldo failed to make the cut while world number two David Duval was unable to capitalise on Tiger Woods' absence when a back injury ended his bid on day one.

Third round leaderboard:

40 - Ernie Els (Rsa) 15-19-6
32 - Phil Mickelson 10-8-14 (US), Greg Norman (Aus) 12-14-6
30 - Sergio Garcia (Spa) 8-13-9, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 14-14-2
28 - Edward Fryatt (GB) 2-12-14
25 - Brian Henninger (US) 11-3-11
24 - Stephen Ames (Tri) 15-2-7, Mark O'Meara (US) 8-8-8, Notah Begay (US) 4-14-6, Glen Hnatiuk (Can) 6-14-4, Andrew Magee (US) 5-18-1

Failed to qualify for final round:

16 - Frank Nobilo (NZ) 6-6-4
15 - Craig Parry (Aus) 6-1-8
14 - Wayne Grady (Aus) 11-3-0, Kyoung-Ju Choi (Kor) 3-6-5
13 - Kazuhiko Hosokawa (Jpn) 1-9-3
9 - Jean Van de Velde (Fra) (-1)-8-2
7 - Gabriel Hjertstedt (Swe) 7-1-(-1)

Failed to qualify for third round:

Nick Faldo (GB)
Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa)
Trevor Dodds (Nam)
David Frost (Rsa)
Esteban Toledo (Mex)
Fulton Allem (Rsa)
Withdrawn - Tom Lehman (US)