Golf roundup: Smith, Rahm share lead, final round pushed to Monday - pressherald.com

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JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Cameron Smith missed out on his chance at a 59 and figured he at least would keep close to the lead Saturday in The Northern Trust. Thanks to a few surprising blunders by Jon Rahm, they wound up in a tie.

And now they get a day off because of Hurricane Henri.

Smith missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole and had to settle for an 11-under 60 to set the course record at Liberty National. Rahm finally got going with a string of birdies, only to twice hit into the water that briefly cost him the lead and certainly slowed his momentum.

The U.S. Open champion had two birdies, one bogey, a double bogey and a terrific par save over the final five holes to scratch out a 67.

They were at 16-under 197, one shot ahead of Erik van Rooyen of South Africa. He made 10 birdies for a 62, one of four rounds at 62 or lower.

Justin Thomas (67) and Tony Finau (68) were three shots behind. Shane Lowry and Corey Conners each shot 62 and remained in the mix.

The average score in the third round was 68.3

Rahm was still 30 minutes from starting his third round when the PGA Tour looked at the path of Henri and determined there was enough rain and dangerous wind on the edges of the hurricane that it was best to wait until Monday for the final round.

Workers began taking down loose structures, such as the poles to which cameras are attached for its ShotLink data. The final round Monday won’t start until the course is ready, and it likely will be played in threesomes off both tees.

That’s what made the finish important. There’s enough uncertainty about the storm and any lingering weather that a 54-hole event was not out of the question.

On Saturday, Smith narrowly missed an eagle putt on the reachable par-4 16th, hit a wedge stiff on the 17th to reach 11 under for the round and was one birdie away from the 13th sub-60 round on the PGA Tour. His approach to the 18th settled 12 feet to the right of the flag.

“Just didn’t do it,” Smith said.

Even with Smith posting his 60, Rahm regained the lead with his fifth birdie of the round on the 11th hole, and he had good scoring chance ahead of him. They just didn’t work out very well for him.

From the fairway on the par-5 13th, he found the water in front of the green. After a penalty drop, he hit it well to the left into deep rough on a bank, barely got that on the green and took two putts for a double bogey. Then, he went long on the par-3 14th along the Hudson River into rough so thick he could barely see his ball. Opening up the face of his lob wedge and playing it like a bunker shot, he chopped out superbly to 5 feet for par.

He regained a share of the lead with a short birdie on the 15th, and then drove just left of the green on the 16th. But his flop shot came out way too hot, rolled across the green and into the water, leading to bogey. He answered that with a 2-foot birdie on the 17th and narrowly missed a birdie chance on the 18th.

WOMEN’S BRITISH OPEN: Anna Nordqvist and Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Scandinavians with contrasting resumes in golf, share the lead heading into the final round of the Women’s British Open.

A bunched-up chasing pack, featuring Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson, promises to make it a Sunday to remember at Carnoustie.

In the toughest conditions of the week on the storied Scottish links, the 34-year-old Nordqvist – a two-time major champion from Sweden – shot her lowest round in one of women’s golf’s five elite events with a bogey-free, 7-under 65 on Saturday. Koerstz Madsen, a 26-year-old Dane with just one top-10 finish in a major, joined Nordqvist on 9 under overall by rolling in a 15-foot eagle putt at No. 12 and parring her way home down Carnoustie’s tough closing stretch to shoot 68.

They were a stroke ahead of Lizette Salas of the United States, whose up-and-down at the last completed a round of 70 that didn’t include a bogey from the fifth hole. Yealimi Noh wasn’t so lucky. The 20-year-old American held at least a share of the lead for much of a third round that lived up to the “Moving Day” tag, only to drop shots on her final three holes and finish at 6 under with a 71.

That left Noh tied for eighth place with a star-studded group containing Korda (70), the recently crowned Olympic champion and new superstar of women’s golf, and two players who have won the Women’s Open in the last five years – 2018 champion Georgia Hall (73) and 2016 winner Ariya Jutanugarn (68).

The top 14 were separated by just three shots going into the final round. Thompson, whose only major win was in 2014, was in a four-way tie for fourth after a 70.

EUROPEAN TOUR: Tapio Pulkkanen will take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Czech Masters after a 6-under 66 on Saturday in Vysoky Ujezd, Czech Republic.

Three shots off the lead after the second round, the 31-year-old Finn did not drop a shot in the third round until the par-4 17th. He bounced back with his seventh birdie on No. 18 at the Albatross Golf Resort near Prague for a 13-under 203 total.

It’s the first lead for Pulkkanen after the third round in his career. Seeking his first European Tour title, Pulkkanen looked confident ahead of the final round.

“I feel like I can play both aggressive and defensive here this week. I feel like I can win here.”

Former British Open champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden dropped his first shot at the Czech Masters on No. 6 to finish the round at 3-under 69 and share second with two Americans, Johannes Veerman (68) and Sean Crocker (70) at 11 under.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Woody Austin birdied the par-5 18th for a 4-under 68 and a one-stroke lead over Jim Furyk and Colin Montgomerie in the Boeing Classic at Snoqualmie, Washington.

Austin had three straight birdies on Nos. 13-15 and takes a 10-under 134 total into the final round at Snoqualmie Ridge.

Furyk and Montgomerie, playing in the same group, each shot 67.

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