Jason Day of Australia carded an eagle and a birdie down the stretch to shoot 7-under-par 63 and share the third-round lead with Sang-Moon Bae of South Korea, who also had a 63, in The Barclays, the FedEx Cup playoff opener at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, N.J.
Day (pictured), coming off his first major victory in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, holed an 18-foot eagle putt on the 16th hole, and after making a bogey at No. 17, sank an 11-footer for his sixth birdie of the day on the final hole.
“Right now, the groove that I’m in, I’m trying to keep the same swing that I’ve been doing over the summer, and I’m not really trying to focus on, you know, winning (Sunday),” said Day, who is gunning for his fourth victory of the season. “Obviously it’s hard to stay present, but I mean, I’ve just got to get some rest tonight and kind of come into (the final) round and be patient out there.
“I’m shooting for my fourth win of the season, so I can’t really get ahead of myself, and I’ve just got to not be satisfied with the score that I’m at. I’ve just got to keep pushing, because the moment that you’re satisfied with a score is the moment that you mentally kind of take a break and you start making mistakes.”
Bae, who hopes to make the International team for the Presidents Cup in South Korea in October, collected his ninth birdie of the day and fifth on the back nine with a 13-foot birdie putt on the final hole.
With 21 birdies in three rounds, he leads the field and is looking forward to playing alongside Day for the second straight round.
“I really enjoyed this round,” said Bae, who has won twice on the PGA Tour, including the Frys.com Open to start the 2014-15 season. “Jason is a world-class player. Really enjoyed his play. He’s really good. And I played pretty solid today. Really solid.
“I’m not sure if Mr. Nick Price (captain of the International team) is going to pick me up. I hope he’s watching the TV now. I just want to play good golf this week and really want to play Presidents Cup in my country.”
Second-round leader Bubba Watson was one shot back in third after a 67, while Open champion Zach Johnson also posted a 67 and was another shot back in a tie for fourth with Ryan Palmer, who totaled 65, and Henrik Stenson of Sweden, who had another 67.
Carlos Ortiz of Mexico missed the course record by one stroke with his bogey-free 62 and was four shots behind in a tie for seventh with Spencer Levin of Elk Grove, who carded a 67, Jason Dufner, who finished at 69, and Kevin Kisner, who came in at 65.
Justin Rose of England was six strokes back in a tie for 14th after a 63, Jim Furyk shot 69 and was tied for 20th, Dustin Johnson was tied for 26th following a 67, and Phil Mickelson shot 69 and was tied for 33rd.
