Thomas moves into lead with a birdie-happy 67
Justin Thomas pulled away from a crowd with five birdies in the middle of his round Saturday for a 3-under 67 and a three-shot lead going into the final round of the Bridgestone Invitational as he goes after his third victory this season on the PGA Tour.
No one could keep pace with Thomas, least of all Tiger Woods.
Starting the third round Saturday five shots behind, Woods didn’t make a birdie until a 12-foot putt on the 12th hole, and he didn’t make another. He wound up with a 73, leaving him 11 shots back and ending his streak of 10 straight rounds at par or better dating to the U.S. Open.
“It was very similar to the first day,” Woods said. “Wasn’t very sharp that first day, but I made everything. So today was about the same, and I didn’t make anything.”
That wasn’t a problem for Thomas, whose six birdies included a chip-in from 30 feet behind the green on the par-3 12th. He was at 14-under 196, three shots clear of Rory McIlroy (67) and Ian Poulter (70).
Thomas fell behind early with two bogeys in three holes, and a 10-foot par save in between from behind the fourth green kept him from falling further behind. Poulter set the pace early and had a three-shot lead at one point until he dropped his shot from the bunker on the par-3 seventh, and then had a mixed bag of birdies and bogeys that kept him from getting closer to the lead.
McIlroy played bogeyfree and will find a familiar face waiting for him on the first tee today. McIlroy and Thomas live in South Florida, practice at The
Bear’s Club that Jack Nicklaus built and spent several days practicing last week.
“We’ve played a lot,” Thomas said, “but never in this situation.”
Jason Day, who threw away a chance to win the Bridgestone Invitational two years ago, had a 69 and was four shots behind. Marc Leishman, who played alongside Woods, shot 67 and joined Kyle Stanley (70) five shots behind.
The course started to get a little firmer. Poulter had a 62 on Thursday. Tommy Fleetwood shot 63 on Friday. The best anyone could do in the third round was a 65 by Rickie Fowler, which only got him within six shots.
Thomas figured that out quickly.
He made an unusual birdie on the par-5 second by hitting his tee shot in the first cut of the third fairway. Blocked by trees, he opted
for a 5-wood that started out toward the third tee and sliced over the trees to the rough, pin-high about 15 feet away from an upand-down.
After a bogey from the trees at No. 3, Thomas went at a back pin on the tough fourth hole and the ball bounded over the green in thick rough. He chipped to 10 feet and made par. WESTWOOD OUT OF PGA >> Lee Westwood of England has withdrawn from the PGA Championship next week with an injury, missing the major for only the second time since he first played it in 1997. The PGA of America did not specify the nature of Westwood’s injury.
Westwood tied for 61st two weeks ago in the British Open. His last victory was in 2015 at the Indonesian Masters. He was replaced in the field at Bellerive Country Club by Jason Kokrak.
WOMEN’S BRITISH OPEN >> Pornanong Phatlum made the Royal Lytham course sing for her again as she held on to her overnight one-shot lead of the Women’s British Open.
Pornanong has been singing Thai songs in her head to calm herself on a links course she admits to struggling on. Though any struggling hasn’t been apparent, yet.
She birdied the third, sixth, eighth, and 11th holes, and dropped her first shot of the major on the par-3 12th, a bogey. It added up to a solid 3-under-par 69 and the prospect of a first win on the LPGA Tour, let alone a first major title.
“Singing in my head makes me come down more, not get too nervous,” Pornanong said. CHAMPIONS >> Across the Atlantic Ocean last weekend, Kenny Perry was already looking ahead to this weekend’s 3M Championship. With all his accomplishments at the TPC Twin Cities, who could blame him?
Perry shot a 12-underpar 60 and leads the PGA Tour Champions event by five shots over Glen Day. From 212 yards on No. 18, he missed shooting 59 by inches.
“I hit the prettiest 5-iron I could ever hit. When I heard everybody yell really loud I knew it was close,” Perry said.
The ball barely scooted by on the right, leaving an 8-foot putt for eagle.”
PGA >> Andrew Putnam took the lead in the Barracuda Championship in Reno, Nev., three points ahead of playing partner Sam Saunders in the PGA Tour’s only modified Stableford scoring event. Putnam had eight birdies and a bogey.