Day started his round with back-to-back bogeys but fought back to be even-par at the turn before a bogey on the 595-yard par-5 10th. The Queenslander made three consecutive birdies on the front nine including a bombed 15-metre putt at the par-four seventh, then hit it close at the last two holes to pick up more shots.
Advertisement
U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson was within one shot of the lead until he sent his drive into the lake to the right of the 18th fairway and made bogey, giving him a 67 along with Jason Dufner. Even so, frustration began to set in when the putts stopped falling, so he switched to the TaylorMade Spider.
All players completed the front nine except Australia’s Aaron Baddeley, who has a 13-foot eagle putt at the ninth when play resumes.
“I was putting good with it and right before we were about to tee off on Thursday, I’m like, ‘AJ, don’t you have the same one in black?’ And he says, ‘Yeah.’ And I said, ‘Go get it.’ I just didn’t want to use the same putter Jason was – like, the exact same one”.
Eighteen birdies and one eagle putt later, Johnson was at 18-under 198 and closing in on his third victory of the year.
FedEx Cup: 5 Players Who Can Crack the Top 30 at the BMW (read here): Sam Belden takes a look at five players who are now on the outside looking in, who could crack the top 30 and make the Tour Championship with a good weekend at the BMW. “I think if you look at the tour, it sure helps to be long. I’m a long way back of the leaders and some great names on the leaderboard”, Kuchar said.
Wiesberger recovered superbly from a patchy start, having bogeyed two of his opening three holes, bouncing straight back to reel off three successive birdies. DeChambeau, the 22-year-old former SMU player who swept the 2015 NCAA and U.S. Amateur titles, finished off a 70 in fading light.
Castro sank a 17-foot birdie putt at the second and drained a stunner from 54 feet to birdie the fourth, but the highlight shot of his round was a 41-foot chip-in birdie at the 14th. After the delay, it was an entirely different golf course. Holmes finished 10th in the USA standings. “Staying in the top five would be ideal and win solves everything at East Lake, ” he said.
Scott equalled the day’s low round with a 67 to reach 11-under, and he will go into the final round seven shots from the lead held by Johnson, with only an outside chance.
Advertisement
Bobby Wyatt took a one-stroke lead over Bryson DeChambeau in the rain-delayed DAP Championship, the inaugural tournament that opens the four-event Web.com Tour Finals.
