Nice Day at Quail Hollow
Jason Day sputtered at the start and finally hit his stride for a 4-under-par 67 to build a 2-shot lead going into the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, N.C., and a chance for his second victory this year.
Peter Uihlein, Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy all showed early yesterday that it was a softer, gentler Quail Hollow under an overcast sky. Uihlein had a 62, one off the course record, and finished before the leaders began the third round. He remained atop the leaderboard until midway through the round.
Mickelson had a 64, his lowest score of the season. McIlroy had to settle for a 66.
Day blasted a 9-iron out of the left rough with the wind at his back from 195 yards to 18 inches on No.9 for his first birdie, and he was on his way. He had five birdies over the last 10 holes, and he made a daring par on the 18th. With his bare feet in the stream and the ball on the bank well above his feet, he hit a full shot to the back of the green for a 2-putt par. Day was at 10-under 203. Nick Watney overcame a double bogey on the par-5 10th hole with four birdies over his last six holes for a 66. He will be in the final group for the first time in nearly four years as he tries to win for the first time since a back injury two years ago.
Tiger Woods failed to take advantage of a course that was 228 yards shorter and soft enough that the players actually found pitch marks on the greens. Woods finally got going on the back nine with three straight birdies, but a 3-putt bogey on the final hole gave him a 68. He was 9 shots behind.
Peter Malnati’s 36-hole lead didn’t last long. He had a pair of double bogeys, shot 75 and fell 7 shots behind.
PGA Tour rookie Aaron Wise nearly had a collapse late until he salvaged a most unlikely bogey.
Wise, the NCAA champion from Oregon two years ago, pulled his approach left of the 18th green. It bounded over the stream to the other side. With his ball on a sharp downslope a few feet from the rock-framed banks of the stream, he considered a penalty drop that would have taken double bogey out of the picture. Instead, he tried a flop shot and his wedge slid under the ball for a whiff.
He hit the next one across the green to 40 feet, and knocked that in for bogey. Two bogeys over the last three holes gave him a 70.
“That was going to be a devastating hole,” he said. “So to turn it into a bogey ... it gives me a shot tomorrow.” Day is in charge, but not in the clear.
Park, Shin tied in 1st
Sung Hyun Park and Jenny Shin finished the raindelayed first round of the abbreviated LPGA Texas Classic with 6-under 65s to share a 1-stroke lead in The Colony, Texas.
After Thursday’s play was canceled and Friday’s began after an 8-hour rain delay, the tournament was reduced to 36 holes. There will be no cut, but only the top 70 and ties in the 144-woman field will win prize money . ...
Bernhard Langer plodded his way to an even-par 72, good enough to maintain the lead at the Insperity Invitational in The Woodlands, Texas, as the leaderboard bunched up behind him. Langer was at 9-under 135 and had a 1-shot lead over three players at The Woodlands Country Club.