Thomas holds 1-shot lead in Mexico City
MEXICO CITY — Justin Thomas started and ended his round with bogeys. He was at his best in the 16 holes between, running off eight birdies for a 6under 65 that gave him a one-shot lead Saturday in the Mexico Championship.
At this World Golf Championship, that doesn’t mean all that much going into the final round.
Thomas was five shots behind in the middle of his front nine at Chapultepec Golf Club. He wound up with a one-shot lead over Patrick Reed and Erik Van Rooyen of
South Africa.
No one illustrated how quickly fortunes can change like Jon Rahm, who started the third round 10 shots out of the lead and goes into Sunday in the penultimate group, just four shots behind.
Rahm opened with six birdies in seven holes — four of those birdies from inside 4 feet — and really excited the crowd with a gap wedge on the par-3 17th that took one big hop and disappeared into the cup for an ace. That carried him to a 61 to break the course record, and it was his low round of his young career.
“I’m just really happy that after the first two days
I’m going to have a legitimate chance tomorrow without needing to shoot 59 or something like that,” Rahm said.
It starts with Thomas, going after his third victory of the PGA Tour season. After a sloppy start with a bogey on the reachable par-4 first hole, he was solid the rest of the way until the end, when his drive went into the trees and he missed a 6-foot par putt.
Thomas was at 15-under 198 at the tournament he lost in a playoff two years ago.
Reed matched him birdie-for-birdie on the back nine and was tied until he went into a bunker on the 18th hole, blasted out weakly from the heavy sand to the fringe and made bogey for a 67.
Van Rooyen didn’t flinch, not when Bryson DeChambeau got off to a hot start, not while trying to keep pace with Thomas and Reed. He had a 67, and drove the 379-yard second in high altitude to about 12 feet for eagle.
Rory McIlroy couldn’t keep pace, taking bogey on the par-5 sixth when he tried for the green in two and missesd.
In other golf news:
• PGA Tour rookie Viktor Hovland shot an 8-under 64 to take a onestroke lead into the final round of the windy Puerto Rico Open at Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
The 22-year-old Norwegian birdied all four par-5 holes at Coco Beach, the last on the 18th for a backnine 31 and 18-under 198 total.
Martin Laird was second after a 63.
Walker paces Roughnecks’ win
P.J. Walker passed for 306 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for another score as the Houston Roughnecks stayed unbeaten with a 34-27 victory over the Tampa Bay Vipers at Tampa, Fla.
Walker three three touchdown passes to Cam Phillips, whose day saw a second-straight three-TD game to go with eight catches for an XFL seasonhigh 194 yards.
"I try to just prepare as best as I can," said Walker, whose team improved to 3-0 and leads the XFL West.
Tampa Bay driving late in the fourth quarter when Roughnecks linebacker DeMarquis Gates picked off Vipers quarterback Taylor Cornelius with 1:05 to play to seal the victory.
Ovechkin scores 700th career goal
Alex Ovechkin became the eighth NHL player to score 700 career goals, reaching the milestone in the third period of the Washington’ Capitals’ 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
“It’s a special moment,” Ovechkin said. “When you get closer you start thinking when it’s going to happen. Finally, it’s over so we don’t have to talk about it anymore.”
The 34-year-old Russian forward one-timed a slap shot from the right circle that went in off the left post 4:50 into the third period. It was his 42nd goal of the season, one behind Boston’s David Pastrnak and Toronto’s
Auston Matthews for the league lead.
Capitals players rushed onto the ice to congratulate their teammate, and Devils fans gave him a strong ovation.
Wayne Gretzky leads the career list with 894 goals. He is followed by Gordie Howe (801), Jaromir Jagr (766), Brett Hull (741), Marcel Dionne (731), Phil Esposito (717) and Mike Gartner (708). In other news:
• Emergency backup goalie Dave Ayres made eight saves in relief of Carolina’s two injured netminders in the Hurricanes’ 6-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Ayres, who works as a Zamboni driver for the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, was forced into action midway through the second period after Carolina’s
James Reimer and Petr Mrazek were injured. The Hurricanes were leading 3-1 when the 42-year-old Ayres took over.
Halep wins Dubai for 20th title
Top-seeded Simona Halep won her 20th singles title after prevailing in a third-set tiebreaker to beat Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the Dubai Championships final.
“It was amazing,” Halep said of the 2½-hour final. “(Rybakina) fought till the end. She didn’t give up any balls. It was really tough mentally.”