BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Young Andres Romero continues to enjoy his time on the biggest stages in golf.

The 27-year-old Argentine, who first came to the fore with his spectacular charge and collapse in the final round of last year's British Open, made another impressive run yesterday in the third round of the PGA Championship that was halted by lightning and rain.

Playing early in the morning, Romero made seven birdies and needed only 24 putts to shoot 5-under-par 65 to tie the competitive course record at Oakland Hills. Eight other players have shot 65. The last was Tom Lehman in the 1996 U.S. Open.

Romero started the day tied for 48th and was tied for eighth at 2-over when play was suspended.

“I played an excellent round. Almost perfect,” Romero said through an interpreter. “The greens were a bit softer, but the rough, it's tremendous. The most important thing is that I played great golf, fairways and greens. The whole round, that was the most important thing.”

Romero was impressive in tying for eighth at this year's Masters, but he's most known for his final round in last year's British Open at Carnoustie. He emerged from obscurity with 10 birdies and briefly led by two on the back nine, only to double bogey the 17th hole and bogey the 18th to miss the playoff by one shot.

Interestingly, Romero's momentum here was derailed by a quadruple bogey in the second round. Playing the back nine first on Friday, Romero was even and near the top of the leaderboard as he arrived at the par-4 16th. He made an 8 there, and then double bogeyed the 18th to drop six shots in the span of three holes.

“I made a double bogey at the 18th because I was mad,” Romero said. “I was fighting for the lead, and suddenly I was trying to make the cut. So I was going mad the whole rest of the round.”

Romero battled back to shoot only 1-over on the back and finished with a 78. His scores for the first three days: 69-78-65.

Unlike many other players, he isn't blaming his problems on the course setup, and that might give him a mental advantage.

“I think the setup is perfect,” he said. “I like it very much. The fairways are perfect, the greens are hard, but they are good. It's good rough; you can hit some shots from there.”

Mickelson up and down

The first five holes of San Diegan Phil Mickelson's third round looked a lot like his first 36 in the championship: hot and cold.

He bogeyed the first by coming up woefully short on a 70-yard wedge shot into the bunker, birdied the second and missed a 4-foot birdie putt at the fifth to sit at even for the round and 3-over for the tournament.

When play was stopped, Mickelson had driven the green at the par-4 sixth and had a 15-foot eagle putt.

Locals watch

Pat Perez (Torrey Pines High) and John Mallinger (Escondido) suffered through bad third rounds. Perez birdied the fourth and fifth holes to get to 4-over, but then shot 7-over for the next seven holes, and was 11-over, tied for 55th, through 14. Mallinger was able to finish, but shot 7-over 77 by making 7 bogeys. He was 14-over and tied for 67th.