| Genesis Invitational third-round leaderboard |
|---|
| -10 McIlroy (NI), Kuchar (US), Scott (Aus); -9 Henley (US), Varner (US); -8 Dahmen (US), Johnson (US) |
| Selected others: -6 Rahm (Spa); -5 Casey (Eng); -4 Fitzpatrick (Eng); -2 Garcia (Spa); -1 Rose (Eng), Laird (Sco); +5 Woods (US) |
World number one Rory McIlroy moved into a three-way tie for the lead at the Genesis Open in California alongside American Matt Kuchar and Australian Adam Scott.
Northern Ireland’s four-time major winner McIlroy carded a three-under par 68 for his third round in Los Angeles.
A birdie putt at 18 saw Scott complete a 67 to join McIlroy on 10 under, while overnight leader Kuchar made 70.
Masters champion Tiger Woods is on five over after a disastrous 76.
Americans Russell Henley and Harold Varner are just one shot behind the leaders on nine under, while former world number one Dustin Johnson is well in contention on eight under alongside US compatriot Joel Dahmen.
Paul Casey is in a group of players on five under, one shot ahead of fellow Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick, while Justin Rose dropped down the field to one under after his 74.
McIlroy, who returned to the top of the world rankings on Monday, made three birdies on the front nine and another on 13, before a bogey at the 14th.
“I gave myself a lot of chances,” he said. ” I didn’t make that many [birdies] because I was on the wrong side of the hole all day, putting defensively.”
Looking forward to Sunday’s final round, the 30-year-old said: “I think you just have to worry about yourself, concentrate on what you’re doing, do it well, set yourself a target, don’t think about anyone else.
“And you know, if that’s good enough at the end of the day, then great. If not, then someone just played better than you and hats off to them.”
‘That was a lot of shots’
Woods had been aiming for a record-setting 83rd US PGA Tour win at the Riviera Country Club.
But he shot 41 on his back nine, with the lowest point for the 15-time major winner coming as he four-putted on the 13th green to come away with a double bogey.
“Well, that was a lot of shots and it was a long day,” said Woods, who is the host of the tournament.
Woods, 44, will now skip next week’s World Golf Championships event in Mexico City and said he was a “little rundown”.
The 15-time major winner said he would continue to play a reduced schedule, having played just 15 events in 2019.
“I won’t play a lot more than that just because of the physical toll, and I want to stay out here for just a little bit longer,” he said.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
Source link
