Jun 2, 2018; Dublin, OH, USA; Bryson DeChambeau tees off on the ninth hole during the third round of The Memorial golf tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
June 3, 2018
(Reuters) – Bryson DeChambeau shot a six-under-par 66 to take a one-stroke lead at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio on Saturday, while Tiger Woods made a charge with a blistering front nine before fading coming home.
DeChambeau, 24, tops the leaderboard on 14-under 202 after a bogey-free third round at Muirfield Village Golf Club, with Chilean Joaquin Niemann (70), Patrick Cantlay (66) and Kyle Stanley (70) a shot back tied for second.
South Korea’s An Byeong-hun was in fifth at 12-under 204, two strokes ahead of Englishman Justin Rose (69), who is looking for his second straight PGA Tour win after his victory at the Fort Worth Invitational in Texas.
Woods was in a groove early, following up an eagle on the par-five fifth with birdies on six, seven and nine.
Another birdie on the 15th briefly gave him a share of the lead but for the second consecutive day the 42-year-old was left to rue his putting.
Woods suffered three-putt bogeys on 16 and 18 to finish with a 68, tied for seventh at nine-under 207.
“I hit the ball well enough that shooting in the low 60s could have been easy if I had just putted normal,” he said.
Changing weather conditions and new pin placements could open up opportunities on Sunday, he added.
“The weather is supposed to come in and it’s supposed to be iffy. If there’s wind associated with it, I don’t think the guys will shoot as low,” he said.
“They gave us some new pins that were kind of surprising so we’ll see what happens.”
Stanley was tied for the lead with DeChambeau until he missed a short par putt on 18 and ended with his fourth bogey of the day.
DeChambeau said he had to remain cool on Sunday and not let himself think beyond each individual shot.
“If I can control my emotions and make sure that I’m executing every shot to the best of my ability and not thinking about the last hole, I’m going to have a pretty good chance to get it done tomorrow,” he told the Golf Channel.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
