Casey in Barclays contention

Casey: one stroke off the lead

I got off to a good start but then just stunk it up.

Steve Stricker
Quotes of the week

Leaderboard
K Streelman (US) -8
P Casey (Eng) -7
J Day (Aus) -7
S Garcia (Spn) -7
V Singh (Fij) -7
M Weir (Can) -7

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• US Tour Schedule
• World Rankings
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Kevin Streelman edged into a one-shot lead after the third round of the Barclays, the opening event of the PGA Tour's FedEx play-offs.

Streelman signed for a three-under-par round of 68 to move to eight-under for the tournament, one ahead of a five-man group that includes Englishman Paul Casey.

Casey, playing for a Ryder Cup captain's pick as well as the $1.26 million (£680,000) winners' cheque, was round in 69, highlighted by a hat-trick of birdies from the 13th to 15th.

"Luckily I got some birdies going after I dropped a shot on 12 and next thing I knew I was tied for the lead standing on the 17th tee," said Casey, who will find out next Sunday if he has been picked as one of European skipper Nick Faldo's two Ryder Cup wild cards.

"So I'm very, very surprised to be sitting here right next to the lead right now."

Australia's Jason Day, Spaniard Sergio Garcia, Vijay Singh of Fiji and Canada's Mike Weir sit alongside Casey at seven-under.

Collapse

The main drama on day three was the performance of Steve Stricker and Hunter Mahan - first and second at half-way point - who both slid down the leaderboard.

Defending champion Stricker suffered a back-nine meltdown that featured a triple bogey at the 12th and four other bogeys.

He finished with a six-over 77, while playing partner Mahan shot a 74 as both dropped down to a tie for 11th at four-under on a stacked leaderboard showing 23 players within four shots of Streelman.

Stricker had looked to be going from strength to strength, reaching 12-under for the tournament after three holes of his third round, still three in front.

But bogeys at the seventh and 11th brought him back to the pack before calamity struck at the par-four 12th when his tee shot found deep rough.

His second went even deeper in trouble as he missed the green 61 yards to the left and, after a futile search for his ball, took a penalty drop on the way to running up a triple-bogey seven.

Further dropped strokes followed at the 14th, 16th and 17th while Mahan also went into reverse with three bogeys and a double bogey at the 12th.

"I made two stupid plays in a row at 11 and 12," said Stricker. "Really the one at 12 was one of the dumbest plays I ever made trying to do what I did out of the rough there and from that point on it was a struggle to get in.

"Four back, not a good day today. It wasn't what I was looking for. I got off to a good start but then just stunk it up."