He’s been here and done that, winning here at the Northern Trust Open. “Around here, I guess being a past champion, they respect it. They know you can play, and they appreciate a past champion around here, just like any golf tournament would”.
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Watson leads the tournament at 12-under par.
Sunday will be headlined by the five stars that sit in the top 10, but Reavie, Kokrak and others like Kevin Chappell and K.J. Choi near the top will be trying to steal away a win from the world’s best.
“I can certainly take positives out of today’s round”, he said of a performance that yielded eight birdies and five bogeys. “It worked out the first two days and hopefully it works out on the weekend”.
However, birdies on the two par fives, including the 18th, kept the Northern Irishman in contention. He followed a missed cut at The Players Championship with a tied second at Colonial.
Because of an obstruction, Watson was allowed a drop.
That the 10th played just 289 yards in Round 3 just reinforces the notion that distance may be king but royalty can also be found in more measured forms.
“Yes, it was pretty cool, actually, it was nice, ” Matthew said of Nicklaus’ tweet. “You have the ability to do it, but at that moment, can you do it?”
Phoenix victor Hideki Matsuyama is a further stroke adrift after he failed to build on birdies at each of the opening three holes, while Justin Rose recovered from an outward 36 with four birdies on the back nine as he salvaged a 69 which lifted him to seven under par. The only hole that long-hitting Johnson didn’t birdie down the stretch was the par-5 17th.
Nomura, 23, birdied the last hole to get herself into Sunday’s final group. “Today I was in a good spot with my second shot, so I hit it right where I wanted to, just short of the green”.
The putter can erase a lot of tee-to-green trouble. “So I moved to Colorado so I can’t practice”, he said. A few mistakes here and there but it’s going to happen.
McIlroy would have been just one shot off the lead had it not been a scorching end to the round from Colombian Villegas.
McIlroy shot a 4-under 67 Saturday and is tied for fifth, two shots back.
McIlroy started quickly with birdies on two of his first three holes on what is considered a shot-makers course. “It’s better than booing me because a headline was wrong”.
Both men are renowned for their power hitting, which has featured prominently this week high up on the tournament leaderboard, and they are both unabashed admirers of the iconic and always challenging Riviera layout.
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“It’s going to be a bit of a shootout tomorrow”.
