Fowler surges to lead
Plays mistake-free for 2nd day in row
Rickie Fowler kept bogeys off his card for the second day in a row and closed with a 5-foot birdie putt for a 3-under 68, giving him a one-shot lead over Patrick Reed going into the final round of The Barclays.
Fowler has gone 45 holes without a bogey at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y., the site of two U.S. Opens and among the toughest courses on the PGA Tour. Along with his three birdies Saturday, he made three parsaving putts of at least 10 feet, including one from 25 feet early in his round. And he needed them all. Reed overcame three bogeys in a four-hole stretch on the front nine and was tied for the lead on the back nine until the final two holes. Reed missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 17th, and his 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole missed weakly to the right.
Fowler, who was at 9-under 204, is in prime position to win for the first time on the PGA Tour in a year and play his way onto the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
This is the final tournament for Americans to earn one of the eight automatic spots for the Ryder Cup matches at Hazeltine at the end of next month. Fowler was at No. 12 going into the opening FedEx Cup event with its $8.5 million purse and needed at least a third-place finish to earn a spot.
Reed, who is No. 8 in the Ryder Cup standings, settled into his round and wound up with a 71, putting him in the final group with Fowler. Right behind was Adam Scott, who also saw his share of putts go in, especially a 45-foot birdie on the 15th hole. Scott started out his round by holing a lob wedge from 98 yards for an eagle, and his 65 was the lowest score of the tournament.
Scott, who hasn’t seriously contended since his back-toback victories in Florida five months ago, was two shots behind at 7-under 206. Martin Laird (69) and Emiliano Grillo (71) were three shots back, while Justin Thomas got into the game a 66 and was in the group at 5-under 208, which included defending champion Jason Day (70).
Other tournaments
Boeing Classic: Gene Sauers took the lead, two weeks after his breakthrough victory in the U.S. Senior Open. Sauers, 54, two-putted for birdie on the par-5 18th for a 5-under 67 and a two-stroke lead over Joe Durant. The threetime PGA Tour winner had a 12-under 132 total at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge in Washington. Sauers birdied four of the final five holes, making three in a row in Nos. 14-16. Durant birdied the last for a 65. He won the 3M Championship three weeks ago in Minnesota.
Made in Denmark: Wales’ Bradley Dredge shot a 1-over 72 to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of this European Tour event in Farso. Dredge had a 12-under 201 total at Himmerland Golf and Spa Resort. American David Lipsky (67) was second along with Spain’s Adrian Otaegui (68) and Belgium’s Thomas Pieters (69).
Canadian Pacific Women’s Open: Ariya Jutanugarn missed a chance to take a big lead into the final round, making two late bogeys at Priddis Greens in Alberta. A week after withdrawing from the Rio Olympics because of a left knee injury, Jutanugarn, 20, of Thailand, bogeyed the par-4 16th and par-5 18th for a 5-under 67. At 17-under 199, she had a two-stroke advantage over South Korea’s In Gee Chun (66).