Ireland’s Paul McGinley, at only one shot behind leaders Kenny Perry and Tiger Woods, will lead the European Tour challenge for the World Golf Championships – NEC Invitational when the weather affected third round resumes at Firestone Country Club early on Sunday morning.
An end was eventually called to Saturday’s action at 6.05pm with 20 players still to finish and no further play possible due to the ongoing threat of lightning. Play was initially stopped at 12.44pm local time, the cessation lasting three hours and 11 minutes before it began again at 3.55pm. But the restart only lasted for 16 minutes before the klaxon horns sounded once again at 4.11pm. No-one again ventured onto the course before tournament officials finally pulled the plug at 6.05pm.
The third round will now be completed at 7.30am with the fourth round – with players competing in two balls – beginning at 9.00am, with the last group teeing off at 2.40pm.
McGinley started the third round one shot off the pace and a determined showing meant he finished in that position, coming off the golf course at six under par for the tournament after 15 holes - his first shot on Sunday morning will be a pitch from the fringe of the green at the par five 16th.
“I am right in it,” he said. “Conditions will change now and I think you are going to see a lot more low scoring now tomorrow now that the course has softened up, so it is important that I keep playing well and keep concentrating on what I have to do.
“It is a bit frustrating not to get finished but it is the same for everybody and is part and parcel of professional golf. We are hemmed in with tee times, we are hemmed in with television times, it is just part and parcel of the game we play nowadays. You can’t have any complaints about it really.”
McGinley got off to a flying start with birdies at the opening two holes. A birdie at the tenth was negated by a bogey at the 11th, but a superb approach to six feet at the 14th brought another birdie three and moved the Irishman onto the coat-tails of Perry and Woods who stood seven under par with one and three holes respectively to play.
The good day for The European Tour contingent in Ohio continued when, of the players who managed to complete their third rounds, the overnight clubhouse lead was posted by José Maria Olazábal, who carded a 66 for a four under par total of 206.
Olazábal very nearly got his third round finished the first time round, having to come off the course with only the 18th to play. But luckily for the winner of 22 titles on The European Tour International Schedule, the 16 minutes for which play resumed, were sufficient for him to complete the 18th.
“I’m happy with my score today,” he admitted, after having opened with rounds of 72-68. “Anything under par is pretty good so I’m really pleased. I made a few more putts today than I had done the first two days so that helped my score obviously.
“I can’t pinpoint the reason I seem to do well here. It’s a tough golf course where you have to drive the ball straight and it is demanding with your irons because the greens are small and well protected. But whatever I’m doing right, I’m glad it’s happening.”
Olazábal only dropped one shot – at the 13th where he drove into a bunker – but he made up for that with five birdies elsewhere in his round, including an impressive stretch around the turn where he birdied four holes out of five from the eighth.
While Olazábal held the clubhouse lead, the man who made the early day story was his European Tour colleague Lee Westwood who set the early Saturday play alight with a superb seven under par 63 to propel him up the leaderboard.
The 32 year old Englishman had threatened to play well in the first two rounds but his scores of 73-72 did him little justice. However, the third round proved to be a different proposition as seven birdie putts found the bottom of the cup to move him to two under par 208 for the tournament.
“I was right on the edge of playing well in the first two rounds but the course here is punishing and if you start missing fairways, even by a couple of yards, it is difficult to post a score,” he said.
“But I didn’t do that today, I hit a lot of good shots and hit a lot of shots close. The more I play over here the more I feel like I do get into the rhythm of things and start to get the most out of my game.”
Westwood got off to a flying start with birdies at the tenth and 11th holes, but his round truly ignited when he rattled off four birdies in a row from 15th, the highlight being a sublime seven iron to 18 inches at the 17th.
Such an impressive run saw the 16 time winner on The European Tour International Schedule to the ‘turn’ in six under par 29, a record for the back nine in the Championship at Firestone.
He could not quite repeat the fireworks on his inward half, his only departure from par coming at the 526 yard second hole when his five wood approach found the front fringe of the green from where he proceeded to two putt for birdie four.
In between Westwood and Olazábal, Sergio Garcia stood four under par for the tournament with two holes to play, while Thomas Björn and David Howell were three under par with three and two holes respectively to play.
