The Memorial: Summerhays leads as Dufner struggles in third round
Saturday 3 June 2017 23:33, UK
Daniel Summerhays opened up a three-shot lead as Jason Dufner's form capitulated during the third round of The Memorial at Muirfield Village.
Dufner dominated the opening two days in Ohio and set a new 36-hole scoring record with a pair of 65s, dropping only one shot in the process, but he endured a horror-show on the slick greens on Saturday and slumped to a five-over 77.
Muirfield Village specialist Matt Kuchar and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson both roared into contention on Moving Day, but Summerhays will be the man to beat on Sunday after he fired a composed 68 to hit the front on 13 under par.
Summerhays, who has posted only one top-30 finish in 18 starts this season, put himself on course for a maiden PGA Tour victory as he ignored the plight of playing partner Dufner to produce some superb golf.
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The 33-year-old followed a birdie at the long fifth with a 25-foot putt for another gain at the eighth to turn in 34, and he did well to get down in two from 60 feet at the 11th to go two clear of the field on 12 under.
Summerhays made his only mistake of the day at the 13th after tugging his tee shot into a fairway bunker, but he got up and down from a greenside trap for birdie at 15 before picking up another stroke at the 17th following a well-judged approach to inside three feet.
A rock-solid par at the last kept him three clear of 2013 champion Kuchar, who closed out an outward 34 with back-to-back birdies and picked up four birdies in five holes from the 13th, although a blocked tee shot at the short 16th led to his only blemish of the round.
Kuchar's par at the last capped a 67 which earned him outright second ahead of a rejuvenated Watson, who was two over for the day at the turn before starting the back nine with three birdies and an eagle at the 12th, where he hit a towering 210-yard six-iron to three feet.
Watson offset a birdie at 15 with a bogey at the next, and a perfect 20-foot putt for another birdie on the final green completed a four-under 68 as he chases a first victory since the Northern Trust Open at Riviera in February last year.
Justin Thomas, winner of the first two events of the year in Hawaii, joined Watson on nine under after carding a four-birdie 69, while Dufner also shares third place despite a day to forget for the former PGA champion.
Dufner's assured putting from the first two days was a distant memory as he made four consecutive bogeys from the second and, although he halted the slide with a welcome birdie at the seventh, he ran up a double-bogey seven at the 11th after a dreadful wedge approach found the water hazard.
He did manage to birdie 15 and 17, where he came within inches of holing out for eagle, but he also bogeyed 16 and scrapped his way to a five at the last which summed up his day.
Rickie Fowler birdied the last to salvage a level-par 72 which kept him within five of the lead alongside Jamie Lovemark, while Jordan Spieth is a shot further back following a wild 71 which featured six birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey at the short eighth.
