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KAPALUA, Hawaii — Gary Woodland made a 65-foot eagle putt and finished with a birdie for a 5-under 68 to keep his three-shot lead in the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Saturday. Rory McIlroy briefly caught him for the lead until the birdies stopped falling. He shot 68 and starts the new year playing in the final group. They were tied late in the third round when McIlroy missed a good birdie chance on two par 5s at No. 15 and No. 18. In the group behind him, Woodland reached the front of the 15th green and watched his putt up the slope and into the grain drop for eagle, with the pin still in the hole. He holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the toughest pin position at the 18th — front and right — to end the day where he started. Woodland was at 17-under 202, and would love nothing better than to secure another trip to Kapalua in the first tournament of the year. Marc Leishman, who made a double bogey in the opening round and a triple bogey on Friday, limited the damage to only one bogey. He had a 68 and was well in range, four shots behind. Xander Schauffele (68) and Bryson DeChambeau (70) were five back. The only downer for Woodland was learning that his grandmother in Kansas had died Friday night. This is a family vacation for most of the Woodland crew — for Christmas, he flew out 11 relatives. “She’s been downhill for a little while now,” Woodland said. “It’s been tough. And you try to prepare for that, but you never really can. Definitely will have a little extra emotion with me, but we’ll get through it.” It was a tough day of work on the course, as the trade wind returned stronger than expected. McIlroy managed to get through it without a bogey. He had a close call on the 16th, when he tried to atone for the missed birdie on the previous hole by going at the flag and landing just over the green. He faced one of the fastest chips on the course, down the slope toward the Pacific horizon, and left it 12 short. He made his par to at least stay in range. McIlroy spoke earlier in the week about playing in the last group six times last year. One of those was the Masters, when he started two shots behind Patrick Reed and never challenged. Another was the TOUR Championship, where he was three behind Tiger Woods and didn’t give him much of a fight. “I probably pushed a little too hard, and it didn’t really work out for me,” McIlroy said. “I just have to go about my business. I didn’t make a bogey today, so I’ll make that a goal tomorrow.” It still will depend on Woodland, a three-time winner on the PGA TOUR who wants more victories to show for his improved all-around game. His only mistake on Saturday was coming up just short of the green on No. 12 and missing a 5-foot par putt. Woodland was part of a crowded leaderboard Friday when he pulled away with five straight birdies. This time, all he needed was one big putt. He laughed when it dropped, though he says it had nothing to do with surprise. “I just saw somebody’s face in the background. They weren’t too happy that the ball went in, so it made me laugh,” he said. “I enjoyed that.” The last two winners at Kapalua, Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas, needed something special Sunday. Thomas shot a 70 and was seven behind, while Johnson had 69 and was eight back.
Phil Mickelson celebrated his birthday Saturday with a burst of temporary insanity during the third round of the U.S. Open.
Although it’s never hosted a sanctioned event for professionals, Erin Hills Golf Course isn’t entirely foreign land to the field of 156 at the U.S. Open. Eighteen entrants competed in the 2011 U.S. Amateur. Half advanced to match play, including Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Russell Henley, Harris English and Peter Uihlein. Among those who failed to advance, Brooks Koepka, Emiliano Grillo and PGA TOUR rookie C.T. Pan are the most notable. Still, there’s only so much calming of the nerves that limited experience as an amateur six years ago can have in a major championship. So, just like a couple before it this year, this edition of this weekly staple focuses solely on specific statistics that project success on the 7,741-yard behemoth northwest of Milwaukee. NOTE: For each of the stats below, all in the field who rank inside the top 25 on the PGA TOUR are cited. * – In the Power Rankings Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green Always relevant, its value increases when unfamiliar greens serve as the targets. Hitting full shots is a constant. Being in tune with distance and accuracy is evidence of confidence. Greens in Regulation With generous fairways, the trouble is pronounced around greens. Dastardly bunkers are poised to swallow wayward approach shots. The final leaderboard may very well consist of those who lead the field in GIR. Scrambling While the winner is expected to land several strokes under par, lest we forget that this is a U.S. Open. Salvaging pars after finding trouble can feel like finding birdies and can score like half-birdies. So, scrambling supersedes bogey avoidance as the preferred angle. Strokes gained: putting may be more statistically relevant in retrospect, but with virtually zero experience on the greens at Erin Hills, going in focusing on the up-and-down game is more sensible since putting is baked into it. Par-5 Scoring The USGA has taken heat recently, but it again has the opportunity to showcase which of the world’s best golfers deserve to be crowned the 117th champion of the national open. It will not hurt the optics that Erin Hills is the first par 72 to host a U.S. Open since Pebble Beach in 1992. And while all four par 5s can stretch over 610 yards – it’s possible for the 18th hole to reach 675 yards – those are the holes that will help generate churn on the leaderboard. Expect the USGA to dial in yardage based on wind, hole locations and relevant difficulty of holes before and after each.
