Rory McIlroy made three birdies, two of which were two-putts and he three-putted the par-5 17th, Xander Schauffele’s form on the greens was even worse as the holes appeared to be buckets for Jacob Bridgeman who soared six shots clear after 54 holes at the Genesis Invitational.
That was the story of the third round at Riviera for most of the field as short putts were missed and putts from inside ten feet missed by more than a cup. But Bridgeman could barely miss – until he dragged a six foot putt wide on the last – and McIlroy will rue a cold putter.
McIlroy’s task is not insurmountable. He has twice made up a six shot gap, beating Scottie Scheffler at the Tour Championship on one occasion but he must improve on the greens after a frustrating 69 to reach 13-under and second place behind Bridgeman who was sensational in a nine birdie 64.
McIlroy made the perfect start with an opening birdie and the Masters champion birdied the par-3 6th. However, after recovering from a bogey on 10 with a birdie at the par-5 11th, the birdies dried up for him and he cut a dumbfounded figure on the greens.
The Holywood man saw birdie putts of 23, 12, 22, 20, 11, 5 and 21 feet turn their noses up at the hole as his chances of winning for the first time at this tournament took a hit.
“I’ve given myself a chance, that’s all I can ask for, it’s not as big of a chance as I would like. I would love to win here and at Memorial and get that handshake from Jack and it’s the same with Tiger here, I won at Bay Hill but Arnold wasn’t around. I would love to do that it’s one of the really cool things about our game.”
Scottie Scheffler labelled the greens as the biggest challenge this week and McIlroy fully agreed.
“As per usual, Scottie is right!” he laughed. “The greens are so fast but they’re soft and get a little bumpy later in the day and I found it really hard to trust my reads. Even from 15-20 feet I couldn’t get the ball dead so grinding over 3 footers all day.
McIlroy hit all but two greens on Saturday and he know his game is in a good place as he hunts his 30th PGA Tour win.
“I was proud of myself I hung in there and stayed as patient as I could be and I wish I was a little closer to the lead but at least I’m in the final group and I can see what Jacob is doing and hopefully put pressure on him.”
Bridgeman has been excellent in his recovery from his 72nd hole nightmare at Pebble Beach last week and he is on the cusp of his maiden PGA Tour victory once again.
The American burst out of the traps with three birdies in his first four holes before a bogey on 8 saw him turn in 33.
However, it is the back nine where he left the field in his wake. A birdie, eagle, birdie run saw him pull away before he birdied 14, bogeyed 15 and birdied 17 to put clear daylight between himself and McIlroy.
Shane Lowry is three-under after a 69.
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