England's Ferrie had led his first ever US Open for most of his third round but bogeyed the last to join Mickelson.

The American had earlier stormed up the leaderboard with a superb inward nine.

Australia's Ogilvy carded a 73 and is two clear of Brits Ian Poulter and Colin Montgomerie, Fiji's Vijay Singh and American Steve Stricker.

The 36-year-old Mickelson was roared on every step of the way by the New York galleries and he did not disappoint - his superb one-under 69 matched Japan's Ryuji Imada for the round of the day.

After an erratic outward trip, the world number two, who is chasing his third straight major victory, came home with seven pars and two birdies to return to two over for the tournament.

The 27-year-old Ferrie, playing two groups behind Mickelson, had the chance to take a one-shot lead into the final round but saw a 10ft par putt stay up at the 18th, an experience shared by a host of other European contenders.

Poulter saw his third-round charge come to a halt at the last as he twice saw shots roll back off the green. He would eventually double-bogey the hole for a level-par 70 but is still right in contention at five over.

Poulter's compatriot and Ryder Cup team-mate Luke Donald also saw a great round slightly spoiled at the 18th.

The world number 11 bogeyed the hole to lose the chance of carding a second straight sub-par round. But his 70 confirmed his recovery from an opening 78 and leaves him in a tie for 11th only five off the lead.

One shot better than Donald is another European Ryder Cup stalwart Padraig Harrington and he also came a cropper at 18. The Irishman suffered by far the most, though, as he carded an ugly triple-bogey seven to fall from third to eighth.

Alongside Harrington on six over are Canadian Mike Weir and American Jim Furyk, who won this event in 2003.

This pair along with Singh know how to win majors and cannot be discounted on Sunday.

But perhaps the story of the day was Montgomerie's remarkable round.

Playing alongside surprise overnight leader Stricker, the 42-year-old Scot made the worst imaginable start when he bogeyed his first two holes and double-bogeyed his third.

By the time he had tapped in for another dropped shot at the 4th he was five over par and six shots behind his playing partner.

He got a shot back at the long 5th only to hand it back again at the 6th. After carding 17 of them on Friday, Montgomerie's first par on Sunday did not come until the 7th.

But he then composed himself, corrected the fault that was sending all his drives left and started to play the classic tee-to-green golf of his heyday.

Montgomerie, perhaps the best player in the world never to have won a major, covered the last 12 holes in level par and with the rest of the field coming back to him he is now only three behind Ferrie and Mickelson.

(BBC)