ATLANTA — Already with the best year in golf, Jordan Spieth is one round away from having the richest year in golf history. ADVERTISING ATLANTA — Already with the best year in golf, Jordan Spieth is one round away from
ATLANTA — Already with the best year in golf, Jordan Spieth is one round away from having the richest year in golf history.
Spieth battled his way through a tough, rainy Saturday at the Tour Championship and finally overtook Henrik Stenson with a 20-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 2-under 68 and a one-shot lead. Spieth also had an 8-foot birdie and a 20-foot par over the closing four holes.
Stenson had a three-shot lead going to the back nine until back-to-back bogeys. He dropped one more shot on the 17th and had a 72, his first time over par at East Lake in seven rounds. It also was the first time he was not in the lead at the Tour Championship in his two appearances.
Spieth was at 8-under 202.
A victory Sunday would push Spieth over a record $12 million for the year, along with the $10 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup.
Rickie Fowler shot a 31 on the back nine for a 67, the low score of the third round, and was four shots behind. Spieth, Stenson and Fowler are among the top five seeds in the FedEx Cup and only have to win the Tour Championship to capture the FedEx Cup.
Zach Johnson had a 71 and was five shots back. A victory would give him the FedEx Cup, provided Jason Day isn’t the runner-up. Day had a 70 and was tied for 10th.
Paul Casey had a 71 and was tied with Fowler at 4-under 206, while Rory McIlroy lost momentum with a double bogey on the 18th from a terrible lie around a bunker. That capped off a wild finish for McIlroy — four birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey over the last seven holes. It added to a 70, and he was five shots behind at 207.
FIRST TEE OPEN
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Colin Montgomerie settled for a one-stroke lead in the Champions Tour’s First Tee Open after bogeying the final hole at Pebble Beach.
The 52-year-old Scot finished with a 5-under 67, missing a 6-foot par putt on the par-5 18th to fall to 8-under 135. He opened with a 68 on Friday at par-71 Poppy Hills.
Olin Browne has second after a 65 at Poppy Hills.
Mexico’s Esteban Toledo was third at 6 under after a 66 at Pebble Beach.
Fred Couples birdied the 18th at Pebble Beach for a 66 to join Woody Austin at 5 under. Austin had a 70 at Pebble Beach, the site of the final round.Tom Watson was 3 under after a 65 at Pebble Beach. The 66-year-old Watson birdied the first four holes and six of the first seven. He added birdies on 14 and 15, but dropped a stroke on 16. Watson won the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and took the PGA Tour’s Bing Crosby event at the course in 1977 and 1978.
NATIONWIDE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL CHAMPIONSHIP
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Roberto Castro shot a 3-under 68 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead in the Web.com Tour Finals’ Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship.
Castro birdied the par-4 15th and 16th holes and closed with two pars to finish at 7-under 206 on Ohio State’s Scarlet Course. The 30-year-old former Georgia Tech player has played the PGA Tour the last four seasons, but slipped to 188th in the FedEx Cup standings to drop into the series that replaced Q-school.
The tournament is the third of four events for the top 75 players from the Web.com Tour money list, Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings and non-members who earned enough money to have placed in the top 200 had they been eligible to receive points.
The top 25 players on Web.com Tour regular-season money list earned PGA Tour cards. They are competing against each other for tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals. The other players are fighting for another 25 cards based on series earnings, with Castro entering the week tied for 11th with $30,118. Last year, Eric Axley took the 25th card with $36,312.
Harold Varner III, Robert Garrigus and Zack Fisher were tied for second at 5 under. Varner had a 66, the best round of the week. Garrigus shot 67, and Fisher had a 69.
EUROPEAN OPEN
BAD GRIESBACH, Germany — Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee shot a 7-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead after the third round of the European Open.
The six-time European Tour winner has eight birdies and a bogey to reach 13-under at on Bad Griesbach’s Franz Beckenbauer Course.
Sweden’s Pelle Edberg (63) and Englishmen Ross Fisher (69) and Graeme Storm (69) were tied for second.
