In the absence of injured world number one Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh provided the spark for the fans at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Saturday.

The heavyweight duo, hardly the best of friends, played in the final pairing of the third round and treated the galleries at Firestone Country Club to an intriguing head-to-head for much of the day.

Fijian Singh held a one-stroke advantage at the tournament’s midway point but will go into Sunday’s final round tied for the lead with American Mickelson and Britain’s Lee Westwood.

“We both played well,” Singh told reporters of his day in Mickelson’s company. “He hit a lot of good iron shots and made some nice putts. Hopefully we can do the same tomorrow.

“I feel pretty good, a little disappointed,” the former world number one added after carding a one-under-par 69 for an eight-under tally of 202.

“It could have been a better round than that but you’ve got to take what it gives you. A few short putts here and there would have made a big difference. But I made a few as well, so that kind of evens it out.”

Singh and Mickelson were involved in a well documented spat over spike marks at the 2005 Masters and have maintained an ice-cool relationship ever since.

Asked whether his round with Mickelson at Firestone had been enjoyable, Singh replied: “It was fine. I was focused on my round. I wasn’t worried about Phil and I’m sure he wasn’t worried about me.”