Fowler, who is at nine-under par 204, shot a bogey-free three-under 68 that included a birdie on the 18th hole at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y., to take a one-stroke lead over Patrick Reed.
Advertisement
Along with having a chance to win his first PGA Tour event in a year, Fowler is in prime position to earn a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Reed came into the week at No. 8.
At the moment, that’s no longer a concern. “It’s definitely a true test of golf out here”, said Fowler, who has made just one bogey in 54 holes. “But it’s what I needed because it had been a frustrating two days, not being able to get anything going”.
Reed was at 8-under 134.
Third-placed Scott decided late in the second round to putt more aggressively and it paid off yesterday as he sank a couple of long ones. He played bogey-free in the sweltering heat, though still missed plenty of birdie chances.
World number one Jason Day is still close enough to be a serious contender, sharing sixth spot, a shot ahead of Dustin Johnson.
But Fowler has the advantage heading into the final round after making birdies at both par-fives on the front nine and converting a precise seven-iron to four feet at the last, while he also holed a number of clutch par putts including a superb save from over 10 feet at the 17th. “Go in and put some pressure on Rickie and hopefully both of us kind of separate ourselves on the back and play some good golf”.
“Any time I tried to hit my draw, seemed like it went right”.
“It’s nice to finally see some putts go in”, Fowler said.
Grillo followed up his opening 67 with a 69, a round that could have looked a lot better had it not been for a bogey on the ninth and a double-bogey on the 10th.
Australia’s world No. 1 Jason Day and third-ranked Jordan Spieth were in a group of five players tied for fifth on four under.
Reed overcame three bogeys in a four-hole stretch on the front nine and was tied for the lead on the back nine until the final two holes. But his tee shots got wild, he finished some swings with only one hand on the club, and he dropped four shots around the turn. “I’m not going into this week looking at it as, “Oh, I need to do this for the Ryder Cup”. “To only be one back, I feel like I’m in great position”.
And then he chose to start over.
Adam Scott – the 2013 champion – is two shots off the pace courtesy of his stellar six-under-par 65. He eventually did, and then a lot more. While Fowler still has work to do to punch his ticket, Reed now appears likely to make the team on merit. Still, this round could have gotten away from him early. “We played junior golf growing up, AJGA [American Junior Golf Association], traveling around the country, and college golf with each other”. It’s rare when we play tournaments on courses this challenging. Spieth is among the few who only have to think about the end of the FedEx Cup.
Each desperately wants to win the tournament – and they know winning will take care of everything else, especially a Ryder Cup berth.
Advertisement
The top 100 in the FedEx Cup advance to the next playoff event outside Boston next week, and 13 players outside the top 100 were eliminated when they didn’t advance to the weekend. It was tied at the 2009 U.S. Open by victor Lucas Glover and Mike Weir, and Padraig Harrington shot it at the 2012 Barclays. McIlroy finished the day at two-under, with consecutive bogeys on the 15th and 16th thwarting his charge as he finished with a two-under-par 69.
