Reed holds off Ancer to seize upper hand in NJ
NEW JERSEY: Patrick Reed, chasing his first victory since capturing last year’s Masters, fired a four-under-par 67 to seize a one-stroke lead after Saturday’s third round of the US PGA Northern Trust tournament.
The 29-year-old American made five birdies against his first bogey of the week to stand on 14-under 199 after 54 holes at Liberty National in Jersey City, New Jersey.
“The biggest thing is continue to hit the ball as well as I’ve been hitting it and allow that to free up my putter,” Reed said.
Mexico’s Abraham Ancer, seeking his first PGA title, was second on 200 with Spain’s Jon Rahm and American Brandt Snedeker on 201 and England’s Justin Rose and Danny Willett and American Harold Varner another stroke adrift.
Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and South African Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion, shared eighth on 203.
Reed sank a 17-foot birdie putt at the third hole, put his approach to four feet to birdie the par-5 sixth then blasted from a bunker to four feet and birdied the par-5 eighth.
After starting the back nine with a birdie, Reed suffered his only bogey so far this week at 15, finding a fairway bunker and bouncing off a cart path into tree-side brush.
But Reed answered with a 10-foot birdie at 17 that lifted him into the lead alone after Ancer had taken a three-putt bogey at 16.
Reed hadn’t managed a top-10 finish since last October in China until six weeks ago with a share of fifth in Detroit, which heralded a 10th-place showing at last month’s British Open.
“I sat down and looked at it and realised I’m a lot closer than it [seemed],” Reed said. “So I looked at it with a fresh mind and things are starting to pay off.”
Ancer ran off three birdies in a row form the 12th to 14th holes, sinking putts of about seven feet each time, to seize the lead on Reed’s bogey, only to stumble back with his own bogey at 16.
“I know I’ve got to play well,” Ancer said. “I played well today. It was really tough. Just keep my blinders on and make as many birdies as possible.”
Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth, who topped the leaderboard after 36 holes, struggled in the winds. Johnson hit only three fairways and matched Spieth in shooting 74.