Superb Smith shares lead as Rahm sputters
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey — Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith were tied for the lead in The Northern Trust after Saturday’s play and neither could have imagined how they got there.
Smith had never shot better than 62 — twice this year on the PGA Tour, once at his home club in Brisbane, Queensland — when he stood over a 12-foot putt on the 18th hole at Liberty National for a chance at the 13th sub-60 round on the PGA Tour. He missed and had to settle for the course record at 11-under 60, and figured that would at least keep him in range of the world’s No. 1 player.
“Jon is playing some pretty good at the minute, so we’ve got to try to catch up,” Smith said. Thanks to Rahm, he did.
The U.S. Open champion ran off four birdies in a six-hole stretch around the turn to regain the lead and had good scoring chances ahead of him. But he twice hit into the water on the second- and third-easiest holes, dropped a combined three shots and had to rally for a 67.
They were at 16-under 197 and today get a day off because of Hurricane Henri. The PGA Tour looked at the path, and there was enough rain and dangerous wind on the edges of the storm that they decided to close Liberty National today. The final round will be on Monday.
With even a possibility of more rain and no more golf, Rahm wanted the 54-hole lead. At worst, he was determined not to fall behind.
“I didn’t want to leave it up to chance,” he said.
Rahm didn’t find too much wrong with his game. He thought his four-iron into the par-5 13th was flush and started walking forward, waiting for the ball to hit the green. He noticed his caddie wasn’t moving.
“It was a little higher than I expected it and seems like the wind might have picked up a little bit,” Rahm said. “It looked like about this short from covering, so it’s one of those things that happen in golf.” He took a penalty drop, pulled his next shot into thick grass on a bank and made double bogey.
Rahm was just to the left of the reachable par-4 16th in what he thought was a soft lie. The idea was to give himself a chance at birdie and make par at worst. But it came out hot, rolled across the green and into the water and led to bogey.
Rahm and Smith were one shot ahead of Erik van Rooyen of South Africa, who made 10 birdies for a 62, one of four rounds at 62 or lower. Justin Thomas (67) and Tony Finau (68) were three shots behind. Shane Lowry and Corey Conners, from Listowel, Ont., each shot 62 and remained in the mix. Conners’ 62 saw him climb 37 spots in the leaderboard into a tie for ninth. He is 12 under, four strokes behind Rahm and Smith.
A second straight day shooting 69 for Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., saw him drop 11 positions into a tie for 28th at 8 under.
The average score in the third round was 68.3