Thomas fires 66 to take control

JUSTIN Thomas was closing in on his third win of the coronavirus-disrupted US PGA Tour season yesterday, firing a six-under par 66 to take a two-shot lead over Viktor Hovland at Muirfield Village in Ohio.

Thomas, whose 12 tour titles include a major triumph at the 2017 PGA Championship, had six birdies without a bogey on the way to a 54hole total of 16-under 200.

Norway’s Hovland had eight birdies in his 66 as he joined Thomas in overhauling overnight leader Collin Morikawa, who started the day with a three-shot lead and fired an even-par 72 to head into today’s final round alone in third on 203.

It was a further two strokes back to Sam Burns (70) and Kevin Streelman (71) on 205.

Back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth let Morikawa preserve his lead even as Thomas strung together three straight birdies at five, six and seven — blasting out of a greenside bunker to half a metre at the seventh to gain a stroke on the leader.

Morikawa’s bogeys at the ninth and 10th opened the door for Thomas, who took full advantage, rolling in a 6m birdie putt at the 11th to seize the lead and padding it with birdies at 14 and 15.

World No.5 Thomas maintained his cushion with a par save from a greenside bunker at 16.

“I got around very well today,” he said. “Scrambling, chipping and putting, I’ve made those putts when I need to, I’ve hit some great chips and great bunker shots when I needed to.”

This week’s Workday Charity Open is the first of back-to-back events at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Muirfield Village, added in to boost the coronavirus-disrupted calendar. The Nicklaus-hosted Memorial follows next week, and Thomas said efforts to give the two events a different look made for some tricky holes.