Long day ahead for survivors at Genesis Open
LOS ANGELES — Tiger Woods had Riviera Country Club rocking with cheers that could be heard a half-mile away, making three birdies and an eagle in his opening four holes Saturday for his hottest start on the PGA Tour in nearly 10 years.
On the other side of the course — and still well ahead of him on the leaderboard — Justin Thomas made a 12-foot eagle putt to take a one-shot lead over Adam Scott, who narrowly missed his eagle attempt from 10 feet.
It was the kind of weekend drama that so often sets the table for the final round at the Genesis Open, with one big difference: The third round was just getting started at this rain-delayed tournament.
“There’s so much golf to play,” Scott said. “It feels like it’s late in the tourney, but it’s only halfway.”
Thomas got a lot done in the eight holes he played Saturday — six in the morning to complete the second round, two in the twilight to at least leave Riviera with the lead at 13 under. He nearly holed a 9-iron shot on No. 5 for a tap-in birdie, then clipped a flop shot from the putting green and over the bunker to make par on the par-3 sixth on his way to a 6-under 65.
Scott played behind him — he got in nine holes — and matched his 65 to join him in the 36-hole lead at 11-under 131.
Both made tough par saves on No. 2 in the third round. Both hit their tee shots on No. 3, wanting to get in as many holes as possible in superb conditions and to shorten their Sunday, if only a little. But they ran out of light.
Scott always leaves the flagstick in, anyway, but he couldn’t see it from 136 yards away. Thomas decided to mark his ball in the right rough. Play stopped across Riviera, and Woods chose to mark his ball well short of the green at the par-5 17th, where he will return to try to get up and down for par.
Patrick Rodgers, who completed a 67, opened with an eagle and was two shots behind Thomas.
Baylor School graduate Luke List shot a second-round 66 and was tied for 26th at 4 under, though he was 1 over through four holes of his third round. Stephan Jaeger, a fellow former Red Raiders standout, had his second straight 71 to make the cut on the number and was tied for 48th at 1 under after getting through four holes of the third round.
The two other Baylor graduates on the PGA Tour missed the cut, Harris English after following his opening 71 with a 73 and Keith Mitchell after chasing his 73 with a 72.
The third round was to resume at 6:45 this morning, and then the 76 players who make the final-round cut will head right back out in the same groups.
Crowded at the top
NAPLES, Fla. — Ken Tanigawa made six back-nine birdies in a 5-under 66 for a share of the Chubb Classic lead with Stephen Ames and Glen Day entering the final round of the PGA Tour Champions tournament.
Tanigawa rebounded from bogeys on Nos. 8 and 9 with birdies on Nos. 10-12, 14, 15 and 17 at The Classics at Lely Resort. He won the PURE Insurance Championship in September at Pebble Beach for his lone title on the 50-and-older tour.
Day birdied the final two holes for a 66. Ames, tied for the first-round lead with Sandy Lyle after a then-course record 63, had a 68 to keep a share of the top spot at 11-under 131.
Kevin Sutherland broke the day-old course record with a 62, making birdies on six of his first eight holes in a round that started on No. 10. He was a stroke back and tied for fourth with Woody Austin (65), Tom Byrum (65), Kent Jones (67), Bernhard Langer (64), Colin Montgomerie (63) and Dan Olsen (67).
Chattanooga’s Gibby Gilbert III (66) moved 15 spots up the leaderboard and was tied for 22nd at 7 under.
Super 6 matches set
PERTH, Australia — Sweden’s Per Langfors was at the top of the leaderboard after three rounds of the World Super 6, with Ireland’s Paul Dunne, Australia’s Brad Kennedy and Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan one stroke behind in the European Tour event.
Lanfors shot an 8-under 64 in the third round and was at 10-under 206 after 54 holes. Reitan had a 65 in the third round, Dunne a 66 and Kennedy a 69.
The first three rounds of the tournament were stroke play. The top 24 golfers qualified for the final-round match play, which consists of a series of elimination six-hole shootouts. If a shootout is tied at the end of six holes, a 90-meter shootout hole will decide the winner, including in the championship match.
Korda takes charge
ADELAIDE, Australia — Nelly Korda made up for an early bogey on the back nine with birdies on four on her final six holes — including three consecutive — to shoot a 5-under 67 and take a three-stroke lead after three rounds of the Women’s Australian Open.
Korda, who was tied for third after the second round, had a 54-hole total of 12-under 204 at The Grange Golf Club after a seven-birdie day on the West Course. The 20-year-old American is going for her second LPGA Tour victory.
Japan’s Haru Nomura (70) was in second place, with three players tied for third and four strokes out of the lead — Taiwan’s Wei-Ling Hsu (74), South Korea’s Jeongeun Lee (67) and England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff.
Korda could extend her family’s sporting pedigree in Australia with a win. Korda’s father Petr is an Australian Open men’s tennis champion, winning the tournament in 1998, her golfing sister Jessica won the Australian Open seven years ago and her tennis-playing brother Sebastian won the Australian Open boys’ singles title last year.