There we contrasting fortunes for Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell at the Workday Charity Open on Saturday where Justin Thomas shot a second consecutive six-under par to seize the lead from Collin Morikawa.
McDowell reeled off four birdies in five holes on his front nine, punctuated by one bogey, but then stalled on the way in with a bogey on the 12th leaving him to sign for a two under par round of 70.
That puts the 2010 US Open champion in a tie for 20th at five under par while Lowry sits four shots further back after a disappointing third round.
After bogeying his second and third holes Lowry got it back to level par for the day with birdies at his eighth and 10th. However, a double bogey, two birdies and two more bogeys would follow over a bit of a rollercoaster on the way in and the Offalyman eventually signed for a 74 to sit at one under in a tie for 54th.
At the top of the leaderboard, world number five Thomas remained bogey-free, only the third player ever to do so through 54 holes at Muirfield Village Golf Club, ending the day with a two-stroke lead over Norwegian Viktor Hovland heading into the final round of the tournament.
Morikawa, whose two-day total was the second lowest in course history, drained a 28-foot putt on the sixth hole for his second of four birdies on the day, but struggled with windy conditions on the course, shooting four bogeys to make par and slipping to third on the leaderboard.
“I put myself in spots you couldn’t put yourself in,” the 23-year-old said. “Couldn’t really figure out wind directions, how much to adjust. But whole new day tomorrow and kind of glad I fought it out.”
Thomas, who has already won two PGA Tour events so far in the Covid-19 interrupted season but missed the cut at last month’s travelers championship, said patience was the key in catching up on Morikawa.
“I understood that it wasn’t Sunday, I didn’t need to press, I didn’t need to try to catch him immediately,” he said. “I know that I’m playing well, and I knew that I was playing well, so I just needed to keep doing what I was doing to try to move up one by one.”
Thomas will have to fend off 22-year-old upstart Hovland, who won the Puerto Rico Open in February and has not finished outside the top 25 in any tournament since the tour returned from coronavirus hiatus.
“If you would have asked me just a year ago, had my first pro start at Travelers last year, and to already have a win on my tour card is pretty awesome,” said Hovland.
The Muirfield Village Golf Club event was added to the PGA Tour’s calendar after the John Deere Classic, which was supposed to be held in Illinois, was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Collated third round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour Workday Charity Open, Muirfield Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio, United States of America (USA unless stated, par 72):
200 Justin Thomas 68 66 66
202 Viktor Hovland (Nor) 69 67 66
203 Collin Morikawa 65 66 72
205 Sam Burns 69 66 70, Kevin Streelman 70 64 71
206 Rory Sabbatini (Svk) 69 68 69, Ian Poulter (Eng) 68 69 69
207 Chase Seiffert 68 69 70, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 67 68 72, Gary Woodland 73 68 66, MJ Daffue (Rsa) 73 69 65, Rickie Fowler 72 69 66
208 Sam Ryder 70 72 66, Xander Schauffele 69 73 66, Matt Jones (Aus) 69 72 67, Sepp Straka (Aut) 69 70 69, Troy Merritt 69 72 67
209 Stewart Cink 72 69 68
210 Jerry Kelly 75 67 68, Jason Day (Aus) 69 71 70, Charley Hoffman 74 68 68, Henrik Norlander (Swe) 70 69 71, Zach Johnson 67 74 69, Brian Gay 71 71 68, Brendan Steele 69 70 71, Talor Gooch 71 68 71, Russell Henley 70 70 70, Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 70 68 72
211 Roger Sloan (Can) 68 73 70, Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 68 73 70, Billy Horschel 72 69 70, Bronson Burgoon 74 68 69
212 Steve Stricker 69 70 73, Pat Perez 68 72 72, Jason Dufner 69 72 71, Patrick Cantlay 70 72 70, Matt Kuchar 69 69 74, Chez Reavie 70 72 70, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 68 72 72, Richy Werenski 71 67 74
213 Adam Schenk 72 70 71, Chris Stroud 71 71 71, Scott Stallings 74 68 71, Adam Long 68 73 72, Chesson Hadley 73 69 71, Sungjae Im (Kor) 72 70 71, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng) 73 69 71
214 Keegan Bradley 69 71 74, Joaquin Niemann (Chi) 69 72 73, Nick Taylor (Can) 67 71 76, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 71 71 72, Patrick Reed 68 70 76, Corey Conners (Can) 71 69 74
215 Shane Lowry (Irl) 69 72 74, Austin Cook 70 70 75, Cheng-Tsung Pan (Tai) 73 69 73, J.J. Spaun 73 69 73, Adam Hadwin (Can) 66 73 76
216 Phil Mickelson 73 69 74, Carlos Ortiz (Mex) 74 68 74, Kyoung-hoon Lee (Kor) 71 71 74
217 Matt Wallace (Eng) 72 70 75, Jon Rahm (Spa) 72 70 75, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 68 70 79, Cameron Champ 70 72 75
218 Andrew Putnam 69 73 76
224 Peter Malnati 68 72 84
