Woodland’s birdie on 18 gives him share of lead

KUA L A LU M PU R , M A L AYS I A » Gary Woodland birdied the 18th hole for a 5underpar 67 to move into a threeway tie for the lead with Marc Leishman and Shubhankar Sharma after three rounds of the CIMB Classic on Saturday.

Woodland just missed an eagle putt, while Sharma (66) and Leishman (67) had to settle for pars on the parfive final hole. Playing in the last threesome of the day, the leading trio had 54hole totals of 19under 197 on the TPC Kuala Lumpur West course.

They had a twostroke lead over Louis Oosthuizen, who moved up the leaderboard with a 65, and firstround leader Bronson Burgoon (67) in the first of three U.S. PGA Tour events in Asia.

Woodland equaled the course record of 61 on Friday that Justin Thomas shot on his way to winning the event in 2015. The American was again consistent.

“Kind of got a little loose, there, a little bit on the back nine, maybe ran out of gas a little, but it was nice to finish up with a birdie and get some momentum going into tomorrow,” Woodland said.

Leishman had an eagle and three birdies on his first five holes to be 5 under, but was 1 over on the back nine with bogeys on the 11th and 13th after a birdie on the 10th.

“Happy with the round, gave myself a good chance tomorrow, so hopefully I can be hot like I was that first 10 holes today,” Leishman said.

Sharma has already won in Malaysia this year when he clinched the Maybank Championship in February.

“Good thing is that I’ve been in this position before so I know what happens and what my mind goes through, so I’ll just try and relax myself as much as possible,” Sharma said. “The way I’m play ing, I’m pretty sure I’ll play well tomorrow as well.”

Stewart Cink shot 63 for the low round of the day and was four strokes off the lead. Thomas, trying to win the tournament for the third time in four years, had a 69 and was at 12under, seven behind.

Eddie Pepperell will take a threeshot lead into the final round of the British Masters after a 1under 71 as he looked for his second European Tour title and a likely place in next year’s Masters.

Pepperell was on 9under 207 at Walton Heath with fellow Englishman Jordan Smith (70), Sweden’s Alexander Bjork (68), American Julian Suri (69) and France’s Julien Guerrier (70) tied for second.

A victory on Sunday would take Pepperell into the world’s top 35 and almost certainly secure a Masters debut in 2019. The top 50 at the end of the year are guaranteed a place in the first major of the year at Augusta National in April.

The 27yearold Pepperell began the day with a threeshot lead and was four clear when he holed from 14 feet for an eagle on the parfive 11th, with playing partners Smith and Matt Wallace (73) remarkably doing likewise.

Smith also birdied the 12th after Pepperell threeputted and another birdie on the 15th took Smith within two shots of the lead, only for him to immediately drop a shot on the next.

Ryder Cup star Tommy Fleetwood was seven shots off the pace after rebounding from a 77 on Friday with a 70, while Ryder Cup teammate and tournament host Justin Rose was another stroke adrift following a 69.

A toptwo finish on Sunday would see Rose reach the top of the world rankings for the second time this season, the 38yearold having spent two weeks as No. 1 in September.

“That hasn’t actually been on my mind,” Rose said. “It’s going to betoughtogetthereasi’vegota lot of points to defend, but I’ve just got to focus on playing well.”