Ian Poulter and Paul Casey lead storm-hit Honda Classic
Monday 2 March 2015 11:33, UK
Ian Poulter and Paul Casey will head into the fifth day of the weather-delayed Honda Classic tied for the lead after a marathon Sunday at Palm Beach Gardens.
The staff at PGA National worked through the night to get the course playable following Saturday's torrential thunderstorms, and Poulter earned a three-shot lead after the third round before two big mistakes hampered his progress shortly before sunset.
The Ryder Cup star dropped from nine under to six under in the space of two holes after he followed four solid pars with an ugly shank with an eight iron off the tee at the short fifth, finding water way to the right.
He was unable to avoid a double-bogey five, and the error appeared to be still playing on his mind when he pulled his drive at the next into another lake, although he did well to find the green with his third and limit the damage to a bogey.
To his credit, Poulter responded with a superb tee shot to four feet at the seventh which he converted to reclaim a share of the lead with his fellow Englishman Casey, who was the hottest player on the course when play was suspended due to darkness.
The players will now return to PGA National to resume the final round on Monday at 8am local time (1pm GMT). The extra day will have little impact on those playing in the WGC-Cadillac Championship down the coast in Miami, where there is no pro-am on the Wednesday.
Casey on the charge
Casey moved to three under after a third-round 68, and he continued to make strides up the leaderboard with three birdies over the first four holes of his final round before rolling in another good putt for a three at the ninth to close out a faultless front-nine 31.
The English pair have a one-shot lead over in-form American Patrick Reed, who rubbed salt into playing-partner Poulter's wounds at the fifth with 40-foot putt from the fringe for a birdie two that earned him the outright lead.
But Reed failed to get up and down after missing the green to the left at the seventh, and the two-shot swing handed the advantage back to Poulter as they boarded their buggies back to the clubhouse.
Phil Mickelson is just three off the lead with 10 holes remaining after he birdied two of the first three holes before giving one back at the sixth, and the left-hander is one of four Americans on four under par, along with Daniel Berger, Jeff Overton and Brendan Steele.
Scotland's Russell Knox is in a tie for fourth after he also came to grief at the tough sixth following birdies at two of the previous three holes, but halfway leader Padraig Harrington slipped four shots off the pace after a disappointing day.
The Irishman had battled his way back into contention with two back-nine birdies in a third-round 71, but he bogeyed the fourth and then ran up a double-bogey six at the sixth to slip to three under for the tournament.
Poulter flawless
Earlier in the day, Poulter had taken control of the tournament after 54 holes, carding four birdies in a flawless third-round 66 that put him three clear of the chasing pack.
He followed an opening birdie with two more at the sixth and seventh, and picked up another shot at 12 before parring safely in to protect his advantage without undue alarm.
Harrington managed to remain in a tie for second alongside Reed on six under after the Irishman staged a valiant recovery from his third bogey of an erratic round at the 10th, bouncing back with birdies at 11 and 13 to haul himself back into contention.
Reed lost ground on the leaders with two dropped shots in three holes around the turn, but he got one back at 16 and responded to another bogey at the next with a good four at the last to close out a level-par 70.
Steele was a further two shots adrift after a 71, while Mickelson returned an entertaining 69 which included a double-bogey seven at the third, back-to-back bogeys at 12 and 13 and five birdies as he joined Knox and Casey on three under.
Casey gave himself plenty of momentum for the final round with birdies at two of the last three holes to cap a solid 68, while Knox offset two birdies with a pair of bogeys in a workmanlike 70.
"This sort of situation is going to be difficult for everybody, and it just breaks up momentum," Casey said. "Some guys will carry it through tomorrow. Others won't, and that's very difficult to predict. Hope the golfing gods are nice to us tomorrow."
But Luke Donald undid much of his excellent work over the first two rounds with a torrid run on the front nine, following a double-bogey at six with bogeys at two of the next three holes as a disappointing 74 left him nine behind Poulter alongside Jamie Donaldson (71).
But Donaldson was two under for his final round with nine left to play, and the Welshman will resume five strokes behind the leaders along with Dutch ace Joost Luiten.
Watch the conclusion of the Honda Classic live from 1pm on Monday on Sky Sports 4 - your homes of golf.
