Ernie Els made three birdies and two bogeys on Saturday in the third round of the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship to stay in fifth position with a round to go in the fourth senior major championship of the year.

His one-under-par 69 put him at six-under for the tournament, three strokes behind the leaders Jerry Kelly of the United States and Alex Cejka of Germany. They led by two from American Steve Stricker and Steven Alker of New Zealand.

Els’ round was bookended by bogeys on four and 15, but he picked up birdies on nine, 10 and 13 to give himself a look at climbing to the top in the final round.

Retief Goosen climbed 15 places on the leaderboard into a share of 16h with his two-under 68.