Robert Allenby crashed to a four-over-par 75 as world No.2 Phil Mickelson found his lead in the Northern Trust Open cut to just one after the third round at Riviera Country Club in California. Allenby, who started the day tied for second after a 66 on Saturday, failed to make a move with seven consecutive pars to start his round before a double-bogey six on the par-four eighth sparked a terrible run for the Victorian. Allenby had three further bogeys for the round, which was only partially saved by a birdie on the 10th, to be at two-under overall. Stuart Appleby is the leading Australian in the field at five-under after carding a two-under-par 69 on a difficult day for scoring. A bogey on the eighth threatened to derail his push up the leaderboard but three birdies on the back nine – including two in succession on 16 and 17 – moved him into a tie for fourth place alongside Americans Vaughn Taylor and Scott Verplank. Mickelson began the day four ahead but a one-under 70 allowed Jeff Quinney, in joint second overnight, to reel him in with a round of 67 to move to 10-under. Those two appear to be the ones in contention as third-placed John Rollins is five off the lead at six-under. Ryder Cup star Luke Donald continued his consistent week with a 70 to improve his position to joint seventh on four-under. Open champion Padraig Harrington is alongside Donald on four-under after a disappointing level-par 71 while their Ryder Cup team-mate Paul Casey carded his best round of the week with a 69 moving him up to one-under. Also at one-under in a share of 29th spot are Aussies Adam Scott and Nathan Green, who both had rounds of 70. Peter Lonard had a three-over 74 to drop back to even-par, while Mathew Goggin is at three-over and Aaron Baddeley a further shot back at four-over.