Bradley thrives in tough conditions, leads by two
POTOMAC, Md. — Keegan Bradley did nothing special on the only easy scoring day so far at this year’s Wells Fargo Championship, opening with a par round of 70 on Thursday that left him near the cut line.
Since the conditions got tougher, Bradley has been the best player at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm.
Bradley shot the lowest score for the second straight day, with Saturday’s 3-under-par 67 giving him a three-day total of 8-under 202 and a two-shot lead over Max Homa (71) in British Open weather on a U.S. Open-style course.
Some two inches of rain has fallen since Friday morning, yet the low-lying course near the Potomac River has held up well enough to avoid any delays in play. Temperatures dropped into the low 40s for the third round.
“It felt like a Patriots playoff game out there in December,” said Bradley, who grew up in New England. “It was fun, but I’m glad to be done.”
Bradley was one of four players to shoot in the 60s. The scoring average was 73.7, the highest relative to par on the PGA Tour since the final round of the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
James Hahn (72) and India’s Anirban Lahiri (70) were tied for third at 4 under, a stroke ahead of England’s Matt Fitzpatrick (71).
“It feels like I’ve just gone 12 rounds in a pro boxing match,” Lahiri said. “You’re fighting everything. You’re fighting your body, the elements, the water, the cold, the conditions. Yeah, it’s tough work and you just have to grit your teeth and kind of grind it out.”
Among the seven players tied for sixth at 2 under was Baylor School graduate Luke List, who struggled to a 74 after an opening 68 and Friday’s 66. Stephan Jaeger, who also played at Baylor and then at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, shot an up-and-down 73 and was tied for 24th at 1 over.
Although the 35-year-old Bradley has only one win in the past nine years, he has been solid recently, with top-10 finishes in three of his past five events, including fifth at The Players Championship during another week of bad weather.
The eye-popping number for a player whose putter has held him back: Bradley ranks second in the field for the week in putting by the PGA Tour’s strokes gained metric. His key makes Saturday: 14 feet for birdie on the par-3 ninth hole, 21 feet for birdie on the tough par-4 11th, 9 feet for birdie on the 16th and, finally, an eight-footer to save par after going bunker to bunker on the closing hole.
“Today and yesterday were just really good ball striking and really good putting. It’s rare that we match those up, and I’ve matched that up these last two days,” Bradley said. “If I can just keep that going a little bit, I’ll like my chances.”
A win by Bradley would move him into the top 60 in the Official World Golf Ranking, making him exempt for the U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
“It’s on my mind,” he said. “I know what’s at stake.”
Jason Day’s retooled swing couldn’t hold up for a third straight day. The leader after 18 and 36 holes, Day began struggling with his driver before it spilled over to the rest of the bag. He found the same pond on consecutive holes — a driver that never crossed dry land on the par-4 fourth, leading to a triple bogey, and a 3-wood that hooked violently on the fifth.
Day appeared to lose his grip on the club when he hit another hook into a water hazard with his second shot on the par-5 10th, even though he had half a dozen gloves hanging from the ribs of his umbrella. He shot a 79 to fall seven shots off the lead.
“Unfortunately I just didn’t have my stuff today,” Day said. “I made a lot of errors out there and hitting into penalty areas. It’s OK. I’ve just got to get back to it tomorrow and try and find some positives.”
Homa was steady as playing partners Day and List struggled, finding fairways and hitting conservative approach shots for routine pars. He went from trailing Day by two to leading by two in a span of two holes that he played at par, but consecutive bogeys on the back nine allowed Bradley to pass Homa.
The day’s second-best score belonged to Rory McIlroy, who made the cut on the number Friday and played on the opposite side of the course from the leaders. The highest-ranked player in the field at No. 7, McIlroy bogeyed his first two holes, made four birdies before the turn and closed with nine straight pars for a 68 that moved the four-time major champion and three-time winner of this event into the tie for sixth on the leaderboard.
Toms grabs lead as Duke slips
DULUTH, Ga. — David Toms flipped the script Saturday at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic with a four-shot swing on the 15th hole and closed with pars for a 1-under 71 that gave him a two-shot lead over Ken Duke going into the final round of the PGA Tour Champions event at TPC Sugarloaf.
Toms was in danger of falling two shots behind when his long birdie putt on the 14th went past the hole and nearly off the green. He made the 12-footer for par, then seized on the big mess Duke made out of the next hole.
Duke’s 20-foot birdie putt from above the hole had too much pace and trickled — and trickled some more — until it picked up steam and rolled some 35 yards down the fairway. His wedge shot was too weak and rolled off into a bunker, leading to a triple bogey. Toms rolled in his birdie putt and went from one behind to a threeshot advantage.
Duke, seeking his first senior victory, managed a birdie on the par-5 closing hole to salvage a 73 that kept him in the game. Toms, shooting for his third career win on the 50-and-older tour, was at 8-under 136.
This is hardly a two-man race, though. In addition to Duke, there were 10 players within five shots of the lead.