AKRON, Ohio – World No. 1 Jason Day walked off the 14th
green after rescuing another par at Firestone Country Club and whispered
to a reporter, “I’ll find the course sooner or later.” He managed to
hit the 18th fairway with his driver when the ball bounced off a tree
and into the short stuff, but Day wasn’t kidding about his wildness off
the tee. Afterward, Day told CBS he felt like Mr. Havercamp (“Oh golly,
I’m hot today!”) from Caddyshack. “I had no idea where my ball was going,” Day said. A day earlier, he said he felt like a 10-handicapper playing alongside
Adam Scott’s tee-to-green show. And it’s true that Day sprayed
his tee shots all over the South Course except for the fairway during
Saturday’s round. When informed of his driving accuracy, Day said, “I
hit three fairways? Oh, that’s terrible.” But here’s the rub: look up at the scoreboard and Day is tied for the 54-hole lead at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. “I found my ball and hit it again and tried to get it in the hole
with the least amount of strokes, and it turned out to be 69 today,
which was great,” Day said. Day has broken 70 all three days for a 54-hole aggregate of
5-under 205. The only other player in the field to shoot in the 60s
each round is Scott Piercy, who signed for 67, and had sole possession
of the lead until he bogeyed the last. Piercy has witnessed Day’s brilliance up close before. They were
paired in the final group at the 2015 BMW Championship when Day cruised
to victory and climbed to World No. 1 for the first time. Piercy has won
three times on the US Tour and overcame elbow surgery that sidelined him for six
months in 2014. Last year, he won the Barbasol Championship opposite
the Open, and he’s shown signs he’s capable of more. “That was the best ball-striking of my life,” Piercy said. “It was one
of those steps. You can do it. You know what I’m saying? It’s just a
little notch, little notch, and then majors.” Piercy nearly notched his first major two weeks ago at the U.S. Open,
finishing tied for second. But the title was there for the taking. He
had 142 yards to the 15th green at Oakmont Country Club, a perfect
number for a wedge, and the flag positioned for his patented cut. “Oh,
this is it. This is your tournament, right here,” Piercy recalled
thinking. “And I ended up pulling that wedge off that slope and making
par. … I felt like that’s where I lost it there.” Piercy left Oakmont feeling good about the result, in part, because
he factored in yet another high profile event. In fact, he is one of
four players along with Day, Dustin Johnson, and Louis Oosthuizen to
finish in the top 30 in each of the first two majors, The Players
Championship and the WGC-Dell Match Play and WGC-Cadillac Championship. “The more I thought about (Oakmont) when I got home, I probably got a little more upset,” he said.
This week, Piercy’s ball-striking has carried him again. He
ranks first in strokes gained: tee to green. He eagled the second
hole, stuffed it on No. 11 for birdie and drained a 30ft par putt at
14. “Best putt of the week and it wasn’t even a putt because I was off
the green,” Piercy said. “Still waiting for the putter to wake up a
little bit.” Piercy’s biggest win to date is the 2012 RBC Canadian Open. He
thought winning a WGC or major was the next step in his progression
until suffering the elbow injury. He described himself as a better
player now than before he got hurt. On Sunday, he has another chance to
prove it. “Any time you can win a WGC event, I think it takes things to a new level,” Piercy said. He has converted his last two 54-hole leads, but those victories were
at less prestigious opposite field events. Day, on the other hand, has
closed out his last five 54-hole leads. So something has to give. Not to
mention that seven other players are under par, including David
Lingmerth, who is 1-stroke off the pace and trying for the Ohio Slam
(2015 Memorial champ), and Dustin Johnson, who fired a 66, the low round
of the day, and trails by three. “Anyone that’s kind of even par, under par have a good chance,” Day
said. “I’m hoping I just blow it away. That’s the plan, but
unfortunately sometimes it doesn’t work that way.” TRIPLE BOGEY AT 16th BY SPIETH
Jordan Spieth is not a fan of the 16th hole at Firestone Country Club.
The 667-yard par 5 played to an average of 5.31 on Saturday during
the third round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. That number was
influenced by eight double bogeys and a triple. That triple, well, it
was made by Spieth.
“I think it’s a poor hole from where we play the tee box,” Spieth
said. “It doesn’t need to be there. It can actually be a really good par
5 from 50 yards up, which is still on the same tee box. But I did the
hard work which was hitting two good shots to a really good number, 86
yards which is a go-to number for me.”
That’s where Spieth’s fortunes took a turn for the worst. His third
shot ended up short and wet. “I thought I actually put a good shot on it
when I struck it,” Spieth said. “I maybe struck it a groove low, which
would make it fly a couple yards shorter. I thought I still had enough
velocity down breeze to fly it far enough and obviously by the crowd
reaction in mid air I thought it had to get up.”
Spieth dropped a few yards back and then flew his fifth shot over the
green. His sixth from a tough lie in the rough went 25 feet past, and
Spieth two-putted from there.
“Somehow I made an 8 without really missing a shot,” Spieth said.
“But if you’re going to name a hole this year where you can make an 8
without really missing a shot, I’d name the 16th hole here.”
Spieth’s third-round, 1-over 71 left him at even par and five shots back of leaders Jason Day and Scott Piercy.
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