Moving day at the Travelers Championship started early on Saturday in Round 3 as tee times were gone up to attempt and prevent afternoon weather condition. Dustin Johnson took benefit with his best-ever round on the PGA Tour and offered an already-good leaderboard a little additional punch.
D.J.s round was connected for tops on the day, however several other players also went deep to set themselves up for a Sunday push toward winning the 3rd PGA Tour event back given that a three-month pause in competitors. Lets take a look at why D.J. skyrocketed on Saturday and what Sundays ending might have in store..
1. Brendon Todd (-18)– Todd made 12 (!!) 3s on Saturday and has struck 41-of-42 fairways this week. Both numbers feel impossible, but theyre both behind his two-stroke lead going into Sunday. How about this circumstance. Just Justin Thomas, Webb Simpson and Todd have several wins on the PGA Tour this season. He will be the only gamer with three wins if Todd wins on Sunday. In a pandemic-shortened season with just one major champion, its feasible to believe that Todd might be in the running for PGA Tour Player of the Year and, in fact, win the award with a win on Sunday and a great PGA Championship performance. If you would have told me this time last year that Brendon Todd would have the inside track on the POY which Tiger Woods would be the reigning Masters champ, Im not exactly sure which would have been more unbelievable.
Dustin Johnson (-16)– D.J. likewise made 12 Threes on Saturday in a third-round 61 to get near the top of the leaderboard. Hes lastly striking it like we anticipate D.J. to hit it, and as a result hes 2-1 to win the occasion going into the final round. On Saturday, he drove it 27 feet from the pin simply off the green and quickly got up and down for birdie.
3. Kevin Streelman (-15 ), 4. Mackenzie Hughes (-14)– Ive been so amazed with how Hughes has actually hung on given that shooting 60 on the very first day. Its easy to eject from that number after shooting the round of your life, however hes parlayed it into a genuine chance to win for the 2nd time on the PGA Tour.
Bryson DeChambeau, Kevin Na (-13)– Bryson slipped in a 65 with two birdies in his last 4 holes while the broadcast crew opined on whether he would attempt and drive the 418-yard par-4 17th hole. Hes in the ideal position on Sunday to let the driver trip on every single hole he plays over 320 yards, and that is a drama I will not be missing out on. His last 36 holes have actually been relatively peaceful, hes still in a fantastic position to post something spicy on Sunday and win.
T7. Scott Stallings, Seung-Yul Noh, Patton Kizzire, Abraham Ancer, Phil Mickelson (-12)– Mickelson finally approached the full Mickelson on Saturday when he struck a ball out of a bunker on the back 9 onto the train tracks. It was a hard day all around for Mickelson, who broke down from tee to green and lost strokes off the tee and on his technique shots. I had a lot of questions about whether Lefty could exist at the level he was existing at in regards to ball-striking, and we all got answers on Saturday about how thats going to go.
T13. Charley Hoffman, Kyle Stanley, Viktor Hovland, Zach Johnson, Brendan Steele, Will Gordon ( -11)– Again, Hovland and Johnson being connected after three rounds of a PGA Tour event is incredible offered their differences in style. It speaks to a good course that identifies whose all-around video game is best..
T18. Rory McIlroy (-10 ) — Rorys chances of winning seemed to sink with the ball he hit in the water on No. 15. He was coming off 2 straight birdies and had a genuine possibility to run his number to 14 or 15 under getting back. A poor tee shot there led to an average surface, and now– disallowing something ridiculous– hes too far back with too many players in front of him to have a real crack at winning this weekend.
Three takeaways.
– We state this about numerous of the top people, however when D.J. is galloping and it looks simple, Im uncertain anybody has actually ever made it look easier than him. Thats especially real on a brief course where he can hold back a lot more than he already does. A delight to experience..
– I enjoy the surface at TPC River Highlands. When the leaders are playing them, the last four holes are all must-see TV. Not exactly breaking news there, however its one of the much better closing stretches on the PGA Tour.
– The on-course conversations chose up by microphones due to the fact that no fans are in participation remain fantastic. I caught one with Lefty on Saturday in which he was in the rough with a tree to his front right. He was attempting to describe to his bro and caddie, Tim, how he was going to form the shot and try and how a range of club faces (woods, irons) might affect it. I might not get enough.
CBS Sports was with you the whole way upgrading this story with the current ratings, updates and highlights below. Take a look at the live scores at the top of this story or a more in-depth leaderboard.
Only Justin Thomas, Webb Simpson and Todd have several wins on the PGA Tour this season. If Todd wins on Sunday, he will be the only gamer with three wins. In a pandemic-shortened season with simply one major championship, its possible to think that Todd might be in the running for PGA Tour Player of the Year and, in fact, win the award with a win on Sunday and a terrific PGA Championship performance. Hes lastly hitting it like we anticipate D.J. to hit it, and as a result hes 2-1 to win the event going into the final round. Its easy to eject from that number after shooting the round of your life, but hes parlayed it into a real opportunity to win for the second time on the PGA Tour.
