Henrik Stenson claims one-shot lead at Deutsche Bank Championship
Monday 7 September 2015 21:10, UK
Henrik Stenson powered into the outright lead at the Deutsche Bank Championship after firing a sparkling six-under 65 in the third round at TPC Boston.
The in-form Swede, runner-up to Jason Day in the opening event of the FedExCup Play-offs last week, had an eagle and four birdies in a flawless card which earned him a one-shot advantage over Rickie Fowler.
But Day's hopes of replacing Rory McIlroy at the top of the world rankings took a hit as he failed to extend his run of 22 consecutive sub-par rounds, while McIlroy suffered continued putting trouble and remained two over for the tournament.
As overnight leader Charley Hoffman tumbled down the leaderboard with a suspected back problem, Stenson moved in the right direction with a sublime outward 31 which included three birdies and an eagle-two at the fourth, where he drove the green and nailed a 20-foot putt.
The Swede could have put distance between himself and the field had he converted a series of good birdie chances after the turn, but he had to be content with a run of eight pars before closing with a cast-iron birdie-four at the last to move to 13 under par.
Fowler emerged as Stenson's closest pursuer after he eased to the turn in 32, but he also mis-read a number of putts on the inward half and nine consecutive pars closed out a bogey-free 67.
Sean O'Hair also kept a bogey off his card and birdied two of the first three holes and then 17 and 18 to post a 67 which got him to 11 under, where he was joined by Matt Jones after the Australian mixed five birdies with two bogeys in a 68.
Scotland's Russell Knox appeared to be slipping out of contention when he parred the first eight holes and then bogeyed the ninth, but he balanced the books at the 10th and birdied three of the last four holes to salvage a 68 and claim outright fifth on 10 under.
Hoffman had enjoyed a three-shot lead at the halfway stage and got off to a confident start with a birdie at the first, but he appeared to suffer a back injury on the second and bogeyed seven of the next 10 holes to plummet out of the top 10 before he salvaged a 76 with a valiant birdie at 18 to get back to seven under.
Ian Poulter looks primed to qualify for the BMW Championship after battling back from an outward 38 with four birdies on the back nine to hand in a 69 which lifted him to five under, but Luke Donald needs to go low on Sunday to extend his FedExCup campaign after an erratic 72 left him out of the top 30 on three under.
Meanwhile, McIlroy again struggled to hide his frustration on the greens as he needed 32 putts to get round, although birdies at each of the final two holes salvaged a 71 and gave him momentum for the final day.
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