Rickie Fowler opens up four-shot lead after day three in Phoenix
Tuesday 5 February 2019 13:35, UK
Rickie Fowler remained on course for his first victory in almost two years after he opened up a commanding four-shot lead after the third round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Fowler carded eight birdies to the delight of over 200,000 fans at TPC Scottsdale as his 64 lifted him to 20 under par, with Matt Kuchar emerging as his biggest threat while Justin Thomas struggled to keep pace with his Ryder Cup team-mate.
Having slept on a slender one-stroke advantage at the halfway stage, Fowler wasted little time in pulling clear of the field as he birdied four of the first six holes including a superb 35-footer for a three at the fifth, although his momentum stalled when he missed from five feet at the seventh having blocked his tee shot into a greenside bunker.
But that proved to be his only blemish of the day, and he soon clawed the shot back when he clipped a precise wedge to tap-in range at the ninth to cap an outward 31, and he picked up another shot with a perfectly-judged 12-foot putt at the 11th.
Fowler, who lost out to Hideki Matsuyama in a play-off in Arizona in 2017, did well to scramble a par at the next before two-putting from long-range for another birdie at the long 13th, although he was unable to take advantage of the par-five 15th after a pushed drive into rough prevented him from going for the green in two.
The popular 30-year-old looked like missing out on birdie at the driveable par-four 17th when his drive leaked right of the green and his cautious chip pulled up 12 feet short, but he rolled in another nerveless putt and closed out a great day's work with a battling par at the last despite finding sand from the tee.
"It's been nice to kind of have some things click on the swing this week," said Fowler afterwards. "We have been working on some things pretty hard and trying to just get into some better positions to make things more efficient and ultimately more consistent.
"I still wouldn't say it's perfect by any means, we still continue to work on stuff, but at least being in a good spot where things are starting to feel good, and I've done a good job of kind of everything this week.
"Nothing's standing out as super special, I'm just playing solid golf and when I've got into trouble I've been able to get the ball up-and-down most of the time. I've been putting well and hitting a lot of good putts as far as the ones that I miss they're more just misreads, if anything.
"So I'm looking forward to tomorrow. We got 18 holes left, a lot of work, but we're in a good spot."
A resurgent Kuchar, twice a winner already on the PGA Tour this season, kept his chances of a third victory alive as he made six birdies and kept a bogey off his card in a 65 that lifted him into outright second on 16 under, while Thomas needed a strong back-nine to haul himself back into contention after a poor outward half.
The world No 4 stumbled to the turn in 36 as he bogeyed the second and ninth and made only one birdie at the third, but a long-range birdie at 11 galvanised the young American and he went on to pick up further shots at 13, 15 and 17 to salvage a respectable three-under 68.
Branden Grace, the third member of the final group, holed from 30 feet for eagle at the 13th but then made his third bogey of an erratic day at 17 as he returned a 69 to close on 13 under alongside former BMW PGA Championship winner Byeong Hun An, who birdied three of the last four holes to post a 66.
Last year's champion Gary Woodland continued his stout defence of the title as he also fired a 66 to get to 12 under with Bubba Watson (68), while Martin Laird remained the leading British challenger although he slipped 10 strokes adrift of the leader following a disappointing 70.
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