“I felt a little guilty, ” Hahn said. Fowler has struck the ball beautifully.
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It was worth the risk, but the ploy backfired when he missed the green left and had to play from a downhill lie on a bank with a tiny creek between him and the putting surface.
He shot 76 to plunge eight strokes from the lead, in a tie for 19th with, among others, Australian Adam Scott and 2015 champion Rory McIlroy, whose chances of successfully defending all but disappeared. “Unfortunately, one bad hole (Saturday) kind of cost me”.
Manawatu’s Tim Wilkinson is also on the mix after three days in Charlotte, sitting in a tie for sixth just four strokes off the lead.
“I feel like 18 played as hard as its ever played this week”, said McIlroy. McGirt got under par for the tournament with a scrambling birdie on the par-5 seventh hole.
Fowler had five birdies and a bogey in his four-under 68. “I mean, it came after a rough stretch of 4s and then I hit a good shot and it went in”, said Ortiz, who is 3-over for the tournament.
Last month in the ANA Inspiration, she had a two-stroke lead with three holes left and closed with three bogeys to finish fourth – two strokes behind victor Lydia Ko in the major championship.
The 20-year-old Thai player had a 14-under 202 total.
And while the likes of Fowler and Rose and McIlroy and Mickelson all left town on Sunday via private jet to prepare for this week’s Players Championship, Hahn and family were scheduled to make the 6½-hour drive to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
McIlroy said the course is “tricky”, especially on the back nine, but said his game still isn’t where it needs to be.
He got up-and-down to save par on eight occasions, his lone bogey at Quail Hollow coming at his final hole, where he drove into a fairway bunker.
A hole-in-one was the start, but it was just the beginning of William McGirt’s early move Sunday.
Rickie Fowler (-9) – Fowler, who won this tournament in 2012, has only gotten better as the tournament’s progressed with a 1-under Thursday, 4-under Friday and another 4-under Saturday, including four birdies on the back nine in Round 3. The ace resulted from a purely struck 6-iron. “You know, it was I would say before maybe not the complete belief or knowledge of knowing what to do and how to win to get the job done, but now it’s fun to go out there and go take care of business”.
The ace is McGirt’s ninth and third in competition.
Fowler’s first win on the PGA Tour was at this event four years ago – and he again found the course to his liking on Saturday.
Ryann O’Toole and Australia’s Minjee Lee were tied for second.
The 27-year-old Loupe has three top-10 finishes this season, but is still looking for his first victory. “If I could sneak one more in, it was definitely going to be a top 10”.
The defending champion will, however, be bitterly disappointed with his finish, dropping two shots in the last two holes. Fowler opened with an 80 at Augusta National and couldn’t recover. In the 2013 LPGA Thailand at age 17, Jutanugarn blew a two-stroke lead with a closing triple bogey in a one-stroke loss to Inbee Park.
He will go into final round with a one-shot lead over English compatriot David Dixon and Clement Berardo of France. Senden appears to be playing a little better in recent weeks after what was a slow start to the year for him.
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Blake Griffin won’t play for the US basketball team this summer at its training camp, likely knocking him out of the Olympics for the second consecutive time.
