DJ hits them big as Woods struggles on the greens

By Rahul Banerji

Dustin Johnson hit the ‘zone’ in round three of the $10.25 million WGC-Mexico Championship, pounding some big drives to open up a four-shot lead over Rory McIlroy on Saturday even as Shubhankar Sharma went under par for the second time in three days at an event he first came to worldwide attention last year.

Sharma hit nine of 14 fairways and found 13 of 18 greens in regulation for his 1-under 70 to be in a share of 54^th place at 4-over 217. Asian hopes though continued to rest on Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who stayed in the hunt for a fourth career top-5 at a World Golf Championships event with a 3-under 68 and tied seventh place.

Johnson went 5-under 66 for the day despite a double bogey (he is otherwise bogey-free over 54 holes) to sit on 16-under 197 to McIlroy is 12-under 201. Sergio Garcia (69), Patrick Cantlay (65), Patrick Reed (64), and Cameron Smith (68) are tied for third on 9-under 204s.

Johnson’s double-bogey was swiftly nullified with two consecutive birdies. He was to birdie four of the last eight holes, his charge built around some top-quality short play. Yet, the 10-time PGA Tour winner was not satisfied.

Scary form

“I know I hit a couple good chips today, but for the most part this week my short game’s been quite rubbish. I’ve hit the ball really well and I’ve played really good, but I missed a bunch of I felt like easy up-and-downs.”

If he holds on, it would give Johnson 12 consecutive seasons with at least one win turning pro in 2008. He is the only player to win all World Golf Championships events, and is seeking a sixth WGC title. “I’ve got a game plan out here,” Johnson said. “I’m not going to change it.”

Sharma had four birdies against three bogeys, picking up two shots on the Par-5s. The first was on the 622-yard par-5 11th hole where he reached the green in three and dropped a 28-foot putt. The other was on the 575-yard par-5 15th, where he hit an approach shot from 236 yards to 10 feet.

His bogeys included a three-putt on a par-3 and a Par-4 where his second shot went into a greenside bunker.

Woods in strife

A day after he went viral on the Interne with an out of the world bunker shot, Tiger Woods (70) once came within four strokes of the lead but that was nullified by a rough time on the greens. The worst was a four-putt for double bogey, with the last three putts from inside four feet.

He followed that with a three-putt bogey on the 16th, and a birdie on the final hole gave him a 70. He had 16 greens in regulation and sits 10 shots behind Johnson in tied ninth alongside three others.

Kiradech recovers well

Kiradech, 29, began the day with a birdie and added four more against two dropped shots. His three-day total of 8-under 205 puts him shared seventh place, eight behind Johnson.

Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, the only Asian to win a WGC event, produced a 67 to move to T16 on 209 while Haotong Li of China fought to a level par 71 for T30. Korea’s Byeong Hun An shot eight birdies against a lone bogey for the joint best score of the day with a 64 for T46.

Kiradech’s iron play helped deliver some easy birdies, chipping close on the first hole to three feet to snare his first birdie and then ending his round in style with a wedge approach shot to six feet of the pin in front of appreciative Mexican fans.

‘Good score’

“I’m happy with my game. I started well with an easy birdie and I putted okay for my other birdies. The greens are still a bit tricky to read and I did miss some makeable chances but overall, it was a good score,” said Kiradech.

“I feel I’m swinging it good and hopefully I can continue tomorrow and play another under par round. It’s nice to start putting in some good scores and I guess it’s due to the work that I’ve put in recently to get my game back up after the year-end break.

“I’ll keep trying again and see if I can finish as high as I can. Hopefully I can hole a few more putts which will be very nice. It’s been fun coming back to play in Mexico and it’ll be especially good if I can finish well to end the week on a good note,” he added.

Also read: Feeling good about my game says Shubhankar Sharma in Mexico