Two share top spot at Bridgestone
AKRON, Ohio — Thomas Pieters finds golf to be a lot more enjoyable when he’s playing from the fairway.
Sometimes that includes another fairway.
The big hitter from Belgium ripped a fairway metal from the third fairway at Firestone Country Club over the trees and onto the green at the par-5 second hole, leading to one of his three straight birdies to start the third round Saturday at the Bridgestone Invitational.
Pieters needed another long shot — this one a 30-foot birdie putt that rammed into the back of the cup — to cap a wild day with a 4-under-par 66 for a share of the lead at 9-under 201.
Co-leader Zach Johnson, who watched Rory McIlroy blast drives 300 or more yards all day, showed an efficient wedge game works as well in this World Golf Championship. Just like Pieters, he had eight birdies in a round of 65 and holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the last hole.
Being in position for victory is particularly meaningful for both Johnson and Pieters.
Johnson hasn’t won since he captured his second major title in the 2015 British Open, and he’s just now starting to find some form with his short game. Pieters is a three-time winner on the European Tour who showed his awesome potential at the Ryder Cup last year, and now he has his best chance to win in America since he captured the 2012 NCAA individual title while playing for Illinois.
Pieters headed for the driving range after the round to figure out his driver. He was 5 under through eight holes and led by three shots when his accuracy took a turn in every direction — mostly to the left. He didn’t hit a fairway after the 10th hole and dropped three shots but fell out of the lead only as long as it took him to make his eighth and final birdie.
Johnson only missed two fairways. More importantly, he gave himself chances and converted.
“Honing in the wedges with that distance control has been the key, and I think especially the scoring irons,” Johnson said. “And then on a course like this, you’ve got to hit the ball in the fairway. This is the best I’ve driven it probably all year.”
He said that after playing with McIlroy, who now has hit 39 out of his 42 drives at Firestone at least 300 yards. McIlroy, however, had to settle for a 68 and left him three shots behind in pursuit of his first victory since the Tour Championship last year.
One shot out of the lead was Australia’s Scott Hend, who made the field on a loophole and posted a 63 despite two three-putt bogeys. WGC officials set aside one spot for the winner of a designated event on the Asian Tour, and when that tournament never came together, organizers agreed to take the winner of the Order of Merit from the previous year.
Hideki Matsuyama had a 67 and was two shots behind.
Owen grabs lead
RENO, Nev. — Greg Owen scored 14 points in the third round of the Barracuda Championship and had a five-point advantage entering the final round of the PGA Tour tournament at Montreux Golf and Country Club.
Stuart Appleby (8) and Derek Fathauer (11) were tied for second in the tour’s only modified Stableford scoring event.
Baylor School graduate Luke List, who had shared third place and was three shots out of the lead after 36 holes, added two points in the third round. He was at 25 total and tied for 16th.
Harris English, another former Red Raider, added a point Saturday and was tied for 38th at 20.
Goydos sets mark
BLAINE, Minn. — Paul Goydos shot a tournament-record 60 and was tied with Kenny Perry and Gene Sauers after two rounds of the PGA Tour Champions’ 3M Championship.
Goydos, who shot 59 at the PGA’s 2010 John Deere Classic, was 7 under through 12 holes before birdies at 15, 16 and 17 and an eagle on the par-5 18th. He needed one putt on 16 greens and two on the others at TPC Twin Cities.
Perry, a co-leader with Mike Goodes after the opening round, shot his second straight 65. Sauers shot an 8-under 64.
Scott Dunlap (63) and Brandt Jobe (64) were one shot behind, while Steve Stricker (63) and Marco Dawson (66) were two back.
Ooltewah’s Gibby Gilbert III (76) was at 2-over 146.
Major advantage
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — I.K. Kim answered the challenge with a 6-under 66 in the Women’s British Open to build a sixshot lead as she goes after her first major championship.
Kim faced a battle before she even teed off Saturday at Kingsbarns Links. Inbee Park tied a course record with a 64 to get within one shot, while Stacy Lewis shot a 65 and was only two shots behind.
Kim was equally impressive, making no bogeys as she reached 17-under 199. She was six shots clear of Georgia Hall and Moriya Jutanugarn.
Kim’s best shot at a major was the Kraft Nabisco five years ago, when she missed a one-foot putt, then lost in a playoff.
Yun by a shot
Andrew Yun shot a 2-under 68 for a onestroke lead entering the final round of the Web.com Tour’s Ellie Mae Classic.
Yun was at 15-under 195, with Jim Knous second after a third-round 66 and Lanto Griffin (66), Brandon Harkins (68) and Nate Lashley (67) another stroke back and tied for third.
Former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga golfer Jonathan Hodge (72) was tied for 29th at 7 under, Baylor School alum Keith Mitchell (73) shared 36th at 6 under and Chattanooga’s Stephan Jaeger (70) was part of a crowd in 46th at 5 under.