Fleetwood holds slim lead going into final round of Honda Classic
Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. — Tommy Fleetwood has won in Scotland, England, the United Arab Emirates, France, South Africa, even Kazakhstan.
Victory in the U.S. hasn’t happened yet.
The Englishman is in position to change that today.
Fleetwood birdied four of his final six holes on the way to a 3-under 67 in the third round of The Honda Classic on Saturday, moving to 5 under for the week and one shot ahead of Brendan Steele at PGA National. Fleetwood, ranked No. 12 in the world, has been close to getting that elusive win on U.S. soil with two runner-up finishes.
“If you’re going to win around here, you’ve proven yourself as an allaround golfer,” Fleetwood said. “Realistically, yeah, it probably is another step in my career. I’m not going to lie and say, ‘Ah, I don’t really mind about winning in America.’ Of course I do. I want to win everywhere I play and the PGA Tour is for sure one of those places where I haven’t done it yet.”
Steele shot 71. He was alone on the lead through 36 holes at 5 under, birdied two of his first three on Saturday to get to 7 under and then made four bogeys in an eight-hole span.
But he survived, which was the order of the day for the leaders.
“It feels like a major championship toughness-wise,” said Daniel Berger, who is three shots back.
Fleetwood rolled in a birdie from nearly 50 feet on the par-3 17th to highlight his big finish. But he thought his two most important shots on Saturday were putts that dropped on the 10th and 15th holes.
And both were for bogey.
Let that speak for how challenging PGA National was — yet again. Of the 69 players who made the cut, only 11 broke par on Saturday. Fleetwood’s 67 was the second-best round of the day; Mackenzie Hughes, who made the cut on the number Friday, shot a 4-under 66 on Saturday and went from tied for 59th to start the day to tied for eighth with 18 holes left.
Fleetwood’s score of 5 under is the highest by any leader through 54 holes since the Honda moved to PGA National.
“It’s just a strong test of your allaround game,” Fleetwood said.
Luke Donald birdied the last to finish a 71 and get to 3 under for the week, two shots off the lead. Lee Westwood (71) was tied with Donald going into the final round, surviving an upand-down day where he birdied two of his first three holes — and then made just one more in the last 15 holes.