Jon Rahm has put himself within 18 holes of going on top of the world after a fine Saturday at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio.
The Spaniard, who was four shots behind as he played the 12th hole, ran off four straight birdies in firm, fast conditions for a 68 that gave him a four-shot lead over Tony Finau and Ryan Palmer.
Finau was bogey-free on the front nine, poured in a 50-foot birdie putt and then easily reached the green on the par-5 11th for a two-putt birdie to reach 12 under.
Then calamity struck. His tee shot on the par-3 12th in a swirling wind sailed 15 yards over the green, leaving a downhill chip from thick rough to a green that was yellow and ran toward the water. He left it short, chipped through the green and made double bogey. Finau took another double bogey on the 17th hole with an awkward lie in the rough. He wound up with a 73.
Palmer, who had a share of the lead on the back nine, bogeyed two of his last three holes for a 73.
A late double saw Dylan Frittelli drop to -1 for the tournament. His 73 could’ve been a lot worse but for a putter that didn’t miss inside ten feet. Frittelli hit just 6 fairways and 8 greens in regulation but he remains the leading South African in 18th place.
A 73 – bogeys at 16 and 18 certainly didn’t help – saw Louis Oosthuizen drop into a share of 37th alongside Erik van Rooyen (73).
Christiaan Bezuidenhout had a day to forget with just 50% driving accuracy and 50% greens hit in round three. His 78 saw him drop down 29 places to share 45th.
Top 10 win probabilities:
- Jon Rahm (3, -8, 28.7%)
- Tony Finau (T1, -9, 20.9%)
- Ryan Palmer (T1, -9, 11.3%)
- Gary Woodland (T4, -6, 6.2%)
- Chez Reavie (T4, -6, 4.4%)
- Patrick Cantlay (T8, -4, 4.2%)
- Justin Thomas (T16, -3, 3.6%)
- Viktor Hovland (T8, -4, 3.5%)
- Jason Day (7, -5, 3.0%)
- Rory McIlroy (T21, -2, 2.0%)
