Séamus Power delivered another solid round in Detroit on Saturday but has work to do if he wants to secure a maiden PGA title, with America’s Matthew Wolff surging clear of the field thanks to a second-consecutive 64.
Power teed off in the penultimate group on Saturday after opening rounds of 67 and 66 had left him firmly in the mix in the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
The Waterford native made four birdies and a single bogey, on the sixth - his first dropped shot of the week - as he signed for a 69 and moved up to 14 under par for the tournament.
However, he sits five shots off the lead of Wolff, after the prodigious 21-year-old made nine birdies and an eagle in his eight under par round of 64.
Wolff’s efforts were enough to move him three strokes clear of Bryson DeChambeau and Ryan Armour, the American duo sit on 16 under par heading into Sunday’s final round.
After his third round, Wolff said he got a sense of calm from the ice cream truck that circled Detroit Golf Club on Saturday.
Wolff, who is bidding for his second PGA Tour win, made an eagle and three birdies over a sizzling six-hole stretch on the back nine en route to his eight-under-par 64.
The 21-year-old said it felt like he made a birdie every time he heard the ice cream truck make its way around a course that was closed to spectators in a bid to stem the spread of Covid-19.
“I heard the ice cream truck and I’m like, I have a good feeling about this,” Wolff said about the 35-foot birdie putt he made at the par-three fifth.
“Just had that little like ice cream truck song in my head and I think that helped me just not think about the speed or the line or anything, just keep my head free.”
Wolff’s 54-hole total of 197 is a career low, one better than he had at last year’s 3M Open in Minnesota where he went on to triumph in only his third start on the PGA Tour as a professional.
“I’m hitting really well, putting good, doing everything well,” said Wolff. “Just going to go out there (tomorrow), have fun and hopefully I hear the ice cream truck a little bit.”
Collated third round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour Rocket Mortgage Classic (USA unless stated, par 72):
(a) denotes amateurs
197 Matthew Wolff 69 64 64
200 Bryson DeChambeau 66 67 67, Ryan Armour 69 64 67
202 Mark Hubbard 67 66 69, Troy Merritt 68 67 67, Seamus Power (Irl) 67 66 69, Chris Kirk 67 65 70
203 Luke List 69 67 67, Matt Wallace (Eng) 66 69 68, Wesley Bryan 69 69 65, Viktor Hovland (Nor) 69 67 67, Webb Simpson 68 64 71
204 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 71 68 65, Tyrrell Hatton (Eng) 68 67 69, Scott Harrington 71 66 67, Kevin Kisner 65 69 70, Kevin Chappell 69 69 66, Fabian Gomez (Arg) 70 68 66
205 Adam Schenk 68 71 66, Christopher Baker 69 68 68, Adam Hadwin (Can) 67 69 69, Richy Werenski 67 66 72, Doc Redman 65 70 70, Tony Finau 69 70 66, Kristoffer Ventura (Nor) 69 68 68, Tom Lewis (Eng) 68 71 66, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 70 69 66, Ted Potter, Jr. 68 68 69, J.J. Spaun 66 69 70
206 Pat Perez 68 68 70, Henrik Norlander (Swe) 67 70 69, Chris Stroud 66 71 69, Sepp Straka (Aut) 68 66 72, Scott Stallings 65 71 70, Danny Willett (Eng) 71 68 67, Lanto Griffin 70 66 70, Sam Burns 68 69 69, Jonathan Byrd 70 69 67, Michael Gellerman 68 70 68
207 Hudson Swafford 67 68 72, Harold Varner III 70 67 70, Rhein Gibson (Aus) 67 72 68, Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 66 70 71, Maverick McNealy 68 68 71, Brendon Todd 68 69 70, Rickie Fowler 67 71 69, Zac Blair 70 68 69, Cameron Tringale 68 67 72
208 Brian Stuard 68 67 73, Steve Stricker 70 67 71, Lucas Glover 67 70 71, Brandon Hagy 67 68 73, Cameron Champ 69 68 71, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 71 67 70, Patrick Rodgers 69 70 69, Luke Donald (Eng) 69 70 69, Tyler Duncan 68 70 70, Johnson Wagner 67 71 70
209 George McNeill 67 71 71, Seung-Yul Noh (Kor) 68 71 70, Sungjae Im (Kor) 70 69 70, Mark Anderson 68 68 73
210 Michael Thompson 69 68 73, Kyoung-hoon Lee (Kor) 69 69 72
211 Keegan Bradley 69 69 73, Austin Cook 69 70 72, Josh Teater 70 69 72
212 Zack Sucher 69 69 74, Bo Van Pelt 70 69 73
217 Harry Higgs 69 70 78
