Rahm closes with birdie, builds 2-shot lead in Mexico Open
Jon Rahm birdied the last two par 5s and got some help from a couple of poor chips by Cameron Champ to take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Mexico Open at Puerta Vallarta, Mexico.
Rahm, whose last victory was the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines last summer, pumped his fist Saturday when he holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-5
18th for a 3-under 68.
He liked how he played tee-to-green. Rahm said he hopes he can see a few more putts drop.
“That one on 18 was the first one outside 10 feet I saw roll in,” Rahm said. “If I can just keep that going and make putts like I did the first two days, I think tomorrow I’ll give myself a really good chance.”
An hour or so before that key birdie on the 18th, Rahm was two shots behind and trying to keep up with Champ, one of the game's longest hitters whose penetrating ball flight has been ideal for breezy conditions at Vidanta Vallarta,
Champ went over the back of the green on the 15th and stubbed a chip that didn't reach the green, leading to bogey. He went just over the back on the next hole, and this time clipped it too hard and watched it roll some 10 feet by the hole, leading to another bogey.
From just right of the 18th in two, Champ's chip came up some 15 feet short and he had to settle for par and a 67.
Kurt Kitayama was tied with Champ after a 66 that also featured some late struggles. He was tied for the lead when he blocked his tee shot on the par-3 17th so far to the right that it ran across a cart path onto a dirt lie under the trees. He did well to make bogey.
Then, the former UNLV player with two European tour wins had 109 yards to the par-5 18th and came up 25 feet short, having to settle for a par.
Rahm was at 13-under 200, two clear of Champ and Kitayama. Another shot behind were Nate Lashley (64), Davis Riley
(67) and Patrick Rodgers
(66).
CHAMPIONS TOUR
Steve Stricker wanted to stay in bed Saturday morning and some of the players at the Insperity Invitational at The Woodlands, Texas, probably wish he did. Stricker took advantage of calm conditions with a 7-under 65 for a three-way share of the lead in his return to the PGA Tour Champions.
Stricker, who lost 25 pounds during a health scare that hospitalized him late last year, is competing for the first time in six months and already has a chance to win.
He was tied with Steve Alker (65) and hard-charging Brandt Jobe (64), who ran off five straight birdies on the back nine and then closed with another birdie when his 5-iron caromed off the wood framing the lake on the par-4 18th at The Woodlands.
They were at 12-under 132. Ken Duke was the next closed to them at 8-under 136.
Stricker had said he is still 10 pounds lighter than when he first started feeling ill, about a month after the U.S. captain led his team to a rout in the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. He also was concerned with endurance having only played cart golf when getting ready.
EUROPEAN TOUR
Oliver Bekker eagled the par-5 15th hole for the second straight day to shoot a 5-under 67 and take a two-stroke lead going into the final round of the Catalunya Championship at Girona, Spain.
Bekker, 11-under 205 for the tournament, made four birdies and a lone bogey at the Stadium Course in northeastern Spain. Laurie Canter finished two shots back after coming into the third round a shot ahead of Bekker and James Morrison.
Italians Edoardo Molinari (66) and Lorenzo Gagli (65) were three shots off the lead entering the final round. Morrison ended six shots back after shooting a 73 that included three bogeys and a double bogey on his front nine.
Lexi Thompson, playing alongside Ko and Brooke Henderson, was even par after a 73 in her first event since tying for fourth four weeks ago at Mission Hills.