Morikawa’s stumble at end gives contenders a chance
Pair of bogeys cuts 5-shot lead to two over Koepka, Horschel after 3 rounds
PGA champion Collin Morikawa made seven birdies in an eight-hole stretch Saturday and made it look as though no one could catch him. All it took was two bad holes to turn the Workday Championship into a chase.
Morikawa shot a 5-under 67 at Concession Golf Club, a reasonable score except for what it could have been. When he drove to the front of the green on the 316-yard 12th hole and made an 8-foot birdie, he was at 17-under par and no one else was closer than five shots.
He wound up leading by two shots over Brooks Koepka, who got his mistakes out of the way early and shot 70, and Billy Horschel, who had a 69.
Rory Mcilroy, who made a double bogey for the second straight day, was hopeful of getting to 10 under to at least give himself a chance. He did one better with a 66, including an eagle on the par-5 13th that gave so many players fits, and wound up just four shots behind.
Morikawa was at 15-under 201.
His troubles began on the 13th hole, and it looked harmless enough when he put his approach from the rough into the bunker and blasted out to just less than 25 feet for a look at yet another birdie. Except that he left his putt 6 feet short, and missed the next one to take bogey.
“I never got it going again,” Morikawa said.
He also made bogey on the par-5 17th, the easiest hole at Concession on Saturday, by finding a bunker off the tee, having to lay up short of the water,
and then hitting into another bunker.
PGA: Local favorite Rafael Campos took a share of the lead in the Puerto Rico Open, waiting out a series of rain delays to shoot a 5-under 67 at windy Grand Reserve. The 32-year-old from San Juan followed a birdie on the par-4 17th with a bogey on the par-5 18th to drop into a tie for the lead with Grayson Murray at 14-under 202. Murray bogeyed 17 and birdied 18 in a 65. Cameron Percy (67) and Branden Grace (68) were a stroke back. The winner will get into the PGA Championship but not the Masters. Murray birdied five of the first nine holes. Second-round leader Brandon Wu (71) was 12 under with Andrew Putnam (67) and Nelson Ledesma (68).
LPGA: Nelly Korda surged into the lead in the Gainbridge LPGA with a 4-under 68 that left her in position to make it consecutive wins for the Korda family to start the season. Annika Sorenstam sank to the bottom. Korda, whose older sister Jessica won the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions last month to start the new LPGA Tour season, dropped only one shot on a breezy day at Lake Nona to lead by one over Patty Tavatanakit. Sorenstam, playing for the first time in more than 12 years after retiring, had no expectations and no excuses. She kept leaving herself in bad spots around
the green and finished with a 79. That put her in last place by four shots, 22 shots behind Korda. Korda was at 13-under 203, one shot ahead of Tavatanakit, the blossoming Thai star who needed only a half-dozen starts on the Symetra Tour to earn her LPGA card when she left UCLA. Lydia Ko, the 36-hole leader trying to win for the first time in nearly three years, also was three shots behind. Ko fell back with a double bogey on the 12th hole, and then a bogey on the 18th. Also at 10-under 203 was Jin Young Ko, the No. 1 player in women’s golf, who shot a 66 to get in position.
Champions: Mike Weir shot a 5-under 67 to build a two-shot lead after the second round of the Cologuard Classic, putting Phil Mickelson in a deep hole in his bid to win his three straight PGA Tour Champions event. Weir shot 66 in the opening round and had eight birdies in breezy conditions at tricky Tucson National. The Canadian left-hander was at 13 under, with Kevin Sutherland second heading into the final round. Tim Petrovic became the second player in PGA Tour Champions history to have a hole-in-one in consecutive rounds with an ace on No. 14. He was 8 under after a 67. Mickelson is bidding to become the first player to win his first three career starts on a PGA Tour-sanctioned tour. The five-time major champion was nine shots back after a 72 that included a second straight day of hitting out of the mud on No. 15.