Matt Kuchar made four birdies in five holes when play was suspended
Matt Kuchar and Emiliano
Grillo were left to rue a two-hour weather delay at The Memorial as the
third round concluded in fading light with three players tied for the
54-hole lead.
The
US PGA Tour decided against bringing the tee times forward despite the
threat of adverse weather late in the afternoon and the decision
backfired as eight players remained on the course when play was halted,
but the torrential rain relented and the action resumed at 7:15pm local
time.
Kuchar and Grillo were locked together at 15 under par, but
the interruption proved costly as Grillo returned to double-bogey the
17th before Kuchar, who had reeled off four birdies in five holes before
the suspension, bogeyed the last.
That resulted in Kuchar falling into a share of the lead with William McGirt and Gary Woodland, while Jason Day is the closest challenger of the "big three" although a double-bogey at the 18th left him three shots off the pace, but Rory McIlroy is five back after an erratic 70.
McGirt
matched Dustin Johnson's opening-day 64, but he looked unlikely to
retain the clubhouse lead when Grillo cruised to the turn in 33 with
birdies at the second, fifth and seventh, and he picked up another with a
20-foot putt at the 13th before blotting his card at the next after
pulling his tee-shot into a hazard on the left.
The
Argentine bounced back with a birdie at 15, and he had just holed out
for a cast-iron par at the short 16th when the hooters echoed around the
course, but a poor drive on the resumption left him unable to reach the
17th green in two and he took three to get down from the fringe to walk
off with a six.
Grillo parred the last to complete a 70 and stay
at 13 under, while Muirfield Village specialist Kuchar was
uncharacteristically erratic over his first 10 holes, dropping four
shots around a run of three consecutive birdies from the fifth.
Grillo double-bogeyed the 17th on the resumption
But
the 2013 champion revived his challenge with a birdie at the long 11th
and began to pepper the pin with his precise iron play which yielded
further gains at 13, 14 and 15 before the threat of lightning forced him
back to the clubhouse.
Returning to the 16th after the delay,
Kuchar did well to save par from 10 feet and missed a good birdie chance
from similar range at the next, but he dumped his drive into a fairway
bunker at the last and dropped his fifth shot of a rollercoaster 70.
Kuchar has a superb record at Muirfield Village, lifting the title in 2013
McGirt
made the first significant move of the third day and roared up the
leaderboard when he followed three birdies over the first four holes
with a stunning 245-yard second to three feet at the fifth which set up
an eagle-three.
He continued his charge with three birdies in five
holes after the turn before he carelessly three-putted the 16th green,
but he responded with an excellent birdie at 17 after clipping his
approach to 10 feet from a fairway bunker.
William McGirt got off to a hot start and blitzed his way to a 64
Big
hitting Gary Woodland is alongside McGirt on 14 under after he kept a
bogey off his card in a 69, carding birdies at the seventh, 11th and
14th to put himself in contention for a first PGA Tour win since the
2013 Reno-Tahoe Open.
Jon Curran pitched in from thick rough for
an unlikely birdie at the 17th just moments before the suspension, and
he returned to par the last an join Adam Hadwin on 13 under after the
Canadian had earlier completed a 67 which included a run of three
birdies and an eagle over a five-hole stretch on the outward half.
Dustin Johnson fired a 68 to move within a shot of the lead
Johnson
is also just one off the lead after the weather delay worked in his
favour, making bogey at 17 before scurrying for cover before he returned
to hit a superb approach to two feet at the last to set up a closing
birdie for a 68. Danish veteran Soren Kjeldsen vaulted 36 places
up the leaderboard with a superb, early 64, carding four birdies in an
outward 32 before adding four more in five holes from the 11th to claim a
share of the lead with McGirt.
Kjeldsen
failed to get up and down from sand at the 17th, but he got the shot
back at the last as he knocked his second from close to 190 yards to 12
feet and rolled in the putt to return to 12 under.
Day took the
gloss off an excellent round when he double-bogeyed the last - coming up
short with his second and seeing his first chip from an awkward lie
roll back off the front of the green.
Day's
68 was two better than McIlroy, who had two sixes on his card and also
found water twice as he closed on nine under, while overnight leader
Brendan Steele got off the worst-possible start when he bogeyed the
second and doubled the next on his way to an outward half of 40 before salvaging a 75 with a birdie at 17. THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD
par 216 (3x72)
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