World No. 2 Jon Rahm made a solid run on the back nine on Saturday and holds the lead with a 12-under 204 after the third round of the Memorial Tournament at Dublin, Ohio.
The Spaniard moved ahead with a birdie putt on the 15th hole and followed with his fourth straight birdie en route to a 4-under 68 round that leaves him four shots ahead of Ryan Palmer and Tony Finau.
Overall, Rahm had five birdies and one bogey at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Palmer and Finau each shot 1-over 73 for 208 totals after sharing the second-round lead.
Finau experienced a rough back nine with one bogey and two double bogeys. Finau had four birdies during his round.
Rahm recorded back-to-back birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 to catch Finau and Palmer atop the leaderboard at 10 under. Finau soon relinquished his share of the lead while Rahm quickly moved ahead.
Finau had a three-shot lead over Palmer and was four shots ahead of Rahm after making consecutive birdies on 10 and 11 — sinking a 50-foot putt on 10. But he gave it right back with a double-bogey on the par-3 12th hole.
Finau then missed a short putt on 14 to settle for a bogey and temporarily fall into third place. He later carded a double-bogey on the par-4 17th hole to fall four shots behind Rahm.
Palmer made birdies on 11 and 13 but missed a birdie putt on 14 when he could have moved into the lead. He also struggled late in the round and had bogeys on 16 and 18.
Overall, Palmer had three birdies and four bogeys.
England’s Danny Willett (70 on Saturday) is alone in fourth at 6 under.
Australia’s Jason Day (72) and Sweden’s Henrik Norlander (71) are tied for fifth place at 5-under 211.
Chez Reavie was tied for fourth before a late-round collapse that saw him bogey 17 and double-bogey 18. He finished with a 74 and stands at 4 under, tied for seventh with England’s Matt Wallace (70).
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy (even-par 72) of Northern Ireland is at 2-under 214.
Tiger Woods barely made the cut on Friday but was unable to make a strong run in the third round. He shot 71 and is at 2-over 218 while playing in his first tournament since mid-February.
“I think that getting back into the flow and competing again and playing at this level, I hadn’t done that in a while,” Woods said. “Playing home and playing out here is so very different, and making sure that I stay sharp and don’t make any silly mistakes and dump the ball in the wrong spots or give myself bad angles, that’s one of the things about playing competitive golf that’s very different from playing at home.”
World No. 3 Justin Thomas struggled with a 3-over 75 to drop to even par for the tournament.
Patrick Reed shot a 70 and is at 1-over 217, while Phil Mickelson (73) and Xander Schauffele (72) are at 3 over.
Brooks Koepka shot 73 and stands at 4-over 220. Koepka said he struggled to find his groove.
“Just consistency, that’s it. Just not putting the same swing on it every time every once in a while,” Koepka said. “… It seems like right now I’m having one or two holes that are really costing me, but other than that, I’m playing fine.”
–Field Level Media
