STOCKHOLM (AP) – England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick shot a 4-under 68 to take a five-stroke lead into the final round of the Nordea Masters.
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Former champion Matt Kuchar continued his love affair with the Memorial tournament on Friday as he took advantage of calm conditions with a late birdie flurry to surge into a two-way tie for the lead in the second round.
Nordqvist bogeyed two of her first three holes after starting out on a breezy morning by the shore but ran off four birdies in a row from her seventh hole, sandwiching two six-footers with a pair of one-foot tap-ins.
McCarron played his final 47 holes without a bogey.
William McGirt fired a 64 on Saturday to grab a share of the lead at the Memorial. “Any time you go into the weekend high on the leaderboard, you’re going to get excited”.
Steele set the clubhouse lead at 12-under after picking up four shots in five holes from the third. Eight of them have never won on the PGA Tour.
And all of them would like nothing more than to relish a winner’s handshake with tournament host Jack Nicklaus.
That includes the No. 1 player in the world.
Muirfield Village member Jason Day, the world’s top-ranked golfer, is tied for 12th after a 71 that included five birdies and four bogeys. He is tied for 11th and three shots off the lead, though he was poised to finish at 13 under before a double bogey on 18. Rory McIlroy was making headway until he dropped a shot at the last for a 70 that put him five back.
Kuchar looked to have the outright lead going into Sunday, but a bogey on 18 derailed that hope. He had a 74 and was 10 behind.
Durant also started poorly before a string of birdies on the back nine ensured a top-five finish. “It was tough for me to swallow being two over early”. “But it is what it is, and tomorrow will be another day”.
Adam Hadwin (67), Dustin Johnson (68), Jon Curran (68) and Emiliano Grillo (70) are a shot off the pace. It shot71, three shots back. We’ll deal with Streb’s round first, since he was the only one who was bogey-free.
McGirt cares only about winning.
He has gone 164 starts on the PGA Tour, and he figures it’s about time.
“This game owes you nothing”, McGirt said. “I feel like I can put another couple of rounds like that together over the weekend, and I shouldn’t be too far away”.
“I felt like I putted nicely”, said McIlroy, who tied for the second-lowest round of the day. “I’ll certainly be looking forward to tomorrow’s round of golf”.
It was the third straight year the Memorial was won by a first-time PGA Tour champion, following David Lingmerth and Hideki Matsuyama. Johnson is a powerful presence at any tournament.
Biggest disappointment: It’s not like any of them didn’t break 80, but it’s safe to say none of the Big Three went home very happy. “I think I played pretty good”.
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“I feel like there’s a hot round out there, and I hit a lot of good iron shots these past two days, and I hit a lot of good iron shots this past week”.
