GREENSBORO, North Carolina: Sergio Garcia, seeking a European Ryder Cup spot, fired a four-under par 66 on Saturday to seize a one-stroke lead after the third round of the Wyndham Championship.
Garcia, trying for his first US title since the 2008 Players Championship, stood on 14-under 196 after 54 holes, one shot in front of South African Tim Clark and American Bud Cauley.
“We’ve played good enough to put ourselves in a decent position to have a shot,” Garcia said. “We’ll go out there and see if we can play better than we did today and close it out.”
The 32-year-old Spaniard birdied the par-3 third and par-5 fifth, then jumped into contention with back-to-back birdies at the par-3 12th and par-4 13th. He took a bogey at the 14th but answered with a birdie at the par-5 15th.
Garcia would need a high finish to put himself back into an automatic qualifying spot for the Ryder Cup team, otherwise he would have to catch the eye of European captain Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain for a captain’s pick.
Garcia could also boost his chances in the upcoming US PGA playoffs with a victory, but the Ryder Cup was foremost in his thoughts.
“I am thinking more about the Ryder Cup than I am about the playoffs,” said Garcia. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to play well tomorrow and even if I don’t win, it fixes everything up.”
Clark fired a 67, opening with a birdie and adding another at the third, then sandwiching birdies at the 11th and 13th around a bogey at the 12th.
Cauley had back-to-back birdies at the fourth and fifth holes, took his lone bogey at the 13th and put himself in the hunt with birdies at 15, 16 and 17.
American Jason Dufner fired a sizzling bogey-free 63 to jump into a share of fourth place on 198 alongside compatriot Harris English and Sweden’s Carl Pettersson, who both fired 68s.
Another stroke back on 199 were Americans Davis Love, Matt Every and Jimmy Walker. Dufner, who squandered a late lead at last year’s PGA Championship, won his first PGA title last April at New Orleans, got married the next weekend and then won again in May at the Byron Nelson Championship.
On Saturday, Dufner birdied the first, third and fifth holes, added another at the eighth, then closed with birdies on three of the last four holes, sinking one at 18 as well as the par-5 15th and par-3 16th.
Japan’s Miyazato
keeps LPGA lead
In North Plains, Oregon, Japan’s Mika Miyazato, seeking her first LPGA title, fired a four-under par 68 on Saturday to seize a two-stroke lead after the second round of the LPGA Safeway Classic.
Miyazato, who began on the back nine, birdied the par-3 11th and third holes and added birdies at the sixth and par-5 eighth holes to finish 36 holes on 11-under 133, two clear of South Korean So Yeon Ryu, who also shot a 68.
“I had so much frustration on the putting on the front nine, but I made three birdies on the back nine,” Miyazato said.
Ryu and Miyazato, both 22, were playing partners in the first two rounds and will be again for Sunday’s final round of the 54-hole event at Pumpkin Ridge, where Miyazato will try to take a solid season to the next level by winning.
“I have so much good experience the last four or five events, but I don’t know how much closer I am to winning a tournament,” Miyazato said. “I tried to focus on my golf game one shot at a time.”
American Cristie Kerr and South Korean Inbee Park shared third on 136, both expressing confidence in their chances on Sunday.
