Lefty Watson right where he wants to be
Langley shot his second straight bogey-free round, a 67, to finish at 11-under 205. He said he isn’t keen on how the closing holes play for lefthanders, either, “but it’s Jack Nicklaus. I’ll concede to him on basically anything on golf.”
Hideki Matsuyama, a 22year-old ranked 24th in the world and a member of the International Presidents Cup team last year, shot 69 for 206, and world No. 1 Adam Scott shot 68 for 207.
A group of six at 208 included another former Masters champion, Charl Schwartzel, 20-year-old Masters runner-up Jordan Spieth and secondround leader Casey, who was passed by Watson seven holes into the third round and lost more ground playing the back nine in 40 strokes.
“I tried to be as aggressive as I could, but I got on the wrong side of things. Once you’re on the back foot on this golf course, it’s tricky,” Casey said. “I’ve still got a chance to win. I know I’ve got the firepower to go out and shoot a really good score, and if I do that, I’m very happy to chase and try to worry the leaders, if I can.”
There seemed to be cause for some worry for Watson after he bogeyed the final hole. His two-stroke lead was halved to one. Worse, slow-motion replays showed Watson apparently nudging his ball with a fairway metal as he addressed a putt against the greenside rough.
But no penalty, which would have been one stroke, was assessed after tour officials reviewed the replays in “real time,” rules official Slugger White said.
Watson said the camera angle made it appear as if the clubface touched the ball, but “it didn’t. It didn’t even come close.”
Even if the two had touched, and the ball moved, it would not have resulted in a penalty as long as the ball returned to its original position, White said, citing Rule 18-2a of the Rules of Golf.
White said he spoke with Watson, and “he said he didn’t feel like he” touched the ball.
“It looked like maybe he did,” White said, “but … I don’t even think it moved out of where it was.”