Matthieu Pavon can't believe it. The Frenchman was expecting is birdie putt to turn from the right to left on the 13th but it trundles along on the same line he started it. His opportunity to claim the outright lead disappears for now.

Tiger’s drive at 18 finds the native area and he shifts and turns as he plays his second with sand flying up into his face.

He needs this to go in the hole but it comes up short of the green and he will miss the US Open cut for the fifth time since 2006.

Matt Fitzpatrick, tugs his approach left. Oh Matt. He'll face a nervy up and down for par.

Not this time Ludvig.

It's drifted to the right and he swishes his club as he hands that shot back to Pinehurst.

Dragged back towards the field.

Tony Finau stays in touch with a confident par putt of his own.

Patrick Cantlay has hit 13 greens in regulation today - the latest is finding the dancefloor in one on the par-three 17th.

The putter has been lukewarm today though and he's left himself a 30-footer here to try and improve his score.

Another putt pulls up short for the American Ryder Cup player. Tap-in par and on he goes.

A pretty decent recovery from Ludvig Aberg as he clips out of the sand and splashes it to 10 feet.

He's just drained one of these.

He'll need to do it again to keep the overall lead.

There's been a certain element of ring rust for Tiger Woods but the 48-year-old has also hardly had Lady Luck on his side.

The 17th underlines just that as he drifts left into the bunker but then plays a glorious wedge into six inches or so meaning he can only make par.

Matt Fitzpatrick comes up short off the tee but rolls up to three feet. The Englishman has been so, so steady today.

Is that a mistake from Ludvig Aberg?

He's flushed his second shot on the 15th and it's completely carried the green and ended up in the wilderness off the back.

Let's see what magic he can conjure from there.

Brooks Koepka and Collin Morikawa are still scrambling around Pinehurst Number Two.

Three straight pars for the five-time major winner after his triple bogey at his 12th while Morikawa has just made bogey to drop to three over par.

Both look safe for the weekend. For now.

Sand and dust goes flying into the air as Patrick Cantlay plays his third shot from the scrub to the left of the 16th green. He lands the ball well short of the hole, allowing it to chase up towards the hole.

He's left himself a 10-footer for par...

...up the hill bit left-to-right. Another one he doesn't really hit with any conviction. The ball finishes only three inches from the hole but it never looked in. Shot gone

In the absence of Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia in his white top and bright red trousers provides a timely reminder that he is still flying the flag for Spain with a birdie from 13 feet on the 17th.

The 44-year-old missed the cut at the Masters in April but is on good shape at Pinehurst.

So so good from Ludvig Aberg.

Just when he needed it, he's managed to dunk a 12-foot putt to save par at the 15th.

It had to have affected Tony Finau who doesn't convert from eight feet for birdie.

What looked a potential two-shot swing, remains a two-shot advantage for the Swede.

Only a par for Justin Rose on the 13th, which would have been fine had the Englishman not thrown in a double on the previous hole.

He'll still be fuming about that, going west off the tee and then finding the huge sand trap to the right of the putting surface.

Just when Patrick Cantlay thinks he's getting back on an even keel, he leaks a tee shot into the undergrowth.

His ball bounds through the scrub down the left of 16 and comes to rest amid a small clump of wire grass.

A big smash towards the green but the ball stays left and ends up in more trouble. It's all got a bit scruffy for the American again.

That is some shot from Matt Fitzpatrick who finds the dance floor from the bunker on the right side of the 16th fairway, a lag putter later and it's another par secured.

Tiger Woods blasts miles left but has a decent lie. A low running fade is the order of the day and he almost pulls off a sensational shot, with his ball threatening to stick close to the flag...

The cheers are shortlived though as it slips off down the slope.

The 15-time major winner takes a putter for the return but comes up woefully short.He's done that three times today and can't salvage his par. He'll need something special from here on in.

That's dicey for Ludvig Aberg after his ball just fails to cling to the front edge of the 15th green.

Majestic from Tony Finau though as he flashes his tee shot onto the putting surface and watches it rolls inches by the side of the hole.

He'll have eight feet coming back to get to five under par.

Patrick Cantlay is on the 15th green in two and eyeing another birdie putt. This one is around 20 feet and it's a big swinger from right-to-left.

He sets the ball out a good four feet to the right and round it comes, but he's not given it enough of a biff and the ball dies off to the left. A three-footer for par... in it goes.

Three to play and he'd probably take three pars from here.

-6 Aberg (14)

-5 Cantlay (14), Pavon (13*)

-4 DeChambeau (69), Detry (67), Finau (14)

-3 McIlroy (72)

Selected others

-2 Matsuyama (66)

-1 Hatton (71), Schauffele (69), Kim (68), Hojgaard (13*)

E Garcia (14*)

+3 Morikawa (13*), Rai (13)

+4 Fitzpatrick (15), Koepka (14*)

+5 Scheffler (74), Lowry (71)

+6 Woods (15)

Image source, Getty Images

It's Tony Finau's turn first and he rolls it tight but again is settling for a calm par.

Aberg has a chance to extend his lead at the top but grimaces as his attempt holds up inches short.

Nicolai Hojgaard backs up his birdie on the third with another on the fourth, zipping in to less than two feet from 194 yards. What a shot that was from the Dane, who suddenly finds himself in the top 10.

The sensible play on these greens is to knock them into the safe part - and both Ludvig Aberg and Tony Finau take that approach as they drop their second shots below the hole.

They'll both have about 25 feet for birdie.

Aberg has only missed four greens so far this championship and two fairways. Metronome.