Fit to be tied
Watson, Hickok share third- round lead
CROMWELL — Several golfers either shared or held the outright lead during the third round of the Travelers Championship on Saturday.
It will be a shootout at TPC River Highlands Sunday afternoon to decide the champion in the 70th year of this tournament. And it’s the threetime champion playing in the final group looking for a piece of tournament history.
Bubba Watson shot a 2- under- par 68 to finish at 10- under. He is tied for the lead with Kramer Hickok, who also shot a 68.
“Obviously we all want to be in the lead and have that chance to win instead of coming from the back,” Watson said. “At this stage of my career, if I have a chance to win, I’m going to go for it. I’m not going to worry about third place or fourth place.”
Avictory Sunday would tie Billy Casper for the most victories in this tournament all- time. Casper won all of his at Wethersfield Country Club.
“A lot of times when you win, it’s not about how good you played or about how good you putted,” Watson said. “It’s about the bounces your way, a chip you chipped in, a shot you holed or a ball stays out of the water. Even if you play really good golf, you still need things to go your way.”
There are 26 players within four shots of the lead. Cameron Smith, Russell Henley and Jason Day are all tied for third, one shot behind the co- leaders.
Hickok, who shot 63 Thursday to share the first- round lead, held a 2- shot lead standing on the 17th tee. But he bogeyed the final two holes.
“In between clubs on 17. Hit the wrong club there, then 18 just hit a bad wedge shot,” Hickok said. “So I don’t like to look back and think of it in any negative limelight. I’m just happy to be where I am now and look forward to tomorrow.”
Hickok and Watson will be paired together in the final group on Sunday. They go off at 1: 55 p. m.
“I’ve never played with him. I’ve talked to him a little bit here and there,” Hickok said about Watson. “I expect the crowd to be pretty big and probably in favor of Bubba. We’ll see how it goes. I look forward to learning from this experience and giving it
all I got tomorrow.”
Said Watson: “He is going to feel the crowd. He is going to feel the energy, good or bad. … He is going to have to step up, believe in himself and it’s the same thing I’m going to have to do.”
Watson had two birdies and three bogeys on the back nine. He birdied the 17th hole to rejoin the lead he held outright at one point.
“It was slightly downwind and I hit the hardest pitching wedge I could possibly hit,” Watson said. “I didn’t want to baby something, especially over water, I wanted to swing full at, so if I skulled it, I knew for a fact it would get over.”
Day, playing with a stiff back the entire tournament, followed up his 62 on Friday with an even- par 70 on Saturday.
“I was just doing exercises and unfortunately tweaked it, and hadn’t had time, in the middle of the season you don’t have time to kind of get it ready. I’m not 21 anymore, so it doesn’t recover like it used to,” Day said. “It’s not going to get worse. It’s nothing structural. It’s just stiff, tight, and if Imove side to side, it hurts.”
Harris English leads a group two back in a tie for sixth place. English was alone at the top of the leaderboard on the back nine at one point when he moved to 10- under. But he flew his tee shot into the water on 15 and made a bogey.
He recorded a second consecutive bogey on 16 and finished with a 67 to stand at 8- under.
Smith was briefly in a tie for the lead st 10- under before he airmailed the green at the par- 3 16th hole. He failed to get up and down for par. He posted at 9- under a couple of hours before the final group finished.
“I feel if I can get it in the fairway the rest of the game kind of takes care of itself. So that’s really nice, to stand over the ball with driver and think you’re going to hit a good one,” Smith said.
What is traditionally Moving Day on the PGA Tour, no one was able to make a significant move thanks to the wind that kicked up in the afternoon. That left plenty of people within striking distance, including the defending champion.
Dustin Johnson posted the low- round of the day, a 5under 65, to move to 7- under and three shots back in what could be a successful title defense.
“All in all it was really solid. I drove it nice and hit a lot of nice iron shots. Yeah, it was a pretty solid day,” Johnson said.
Bryson DeChambeau is also within striking distance. The former U. S. Open champion is tied for ninth place with Johnson after a thirdround 68.
“I just didn’t go low like I wanted to, unfortunately,” DeChambeau said. “Yeah, it’s going to take 7- or 8- under for sure tomorrow, which can happen out here. You just got to execute shots and be confident and make some good putts.”
Phil Mickelson, who won the PGA Championship in May, shot a 72 and stands at even par and in a tie for 73rd place.