Patrick Cantlay, Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland and Sam Saunders were tied atop the leaderboard in the third round of the Genesis Open when darkness descended on Riviera Country Club.
G-Mac (pictured) shot 5-under-par 66, while first-round co-leader Cantlay carded a 69 to both finish the round at 7-under 135, while Saunders was 3-under for the round through 15 holes when the end came.
“It’s been the same the last four or five months, even though I’ve missed three cuts,” said McDowell, who won the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. “I’m happy with the progress I’ve been making with what I’ve been working on. I’m just missing a low number here and there.
“I’m happy to get to the weekend and I’m not going to worry about results because I know it’s only a matter of time before it starts to happen for me. I respect this golf course. You can’t get out of position, but if you hit it in the right spots, you can make some birdies.”
Said Cantlay, from Los Alamitos and UCLA who claimed his first PGA Tour victory in Shriners Hospitals for Children Open last November: “The course played tougher today because of the wind, and I made a couple of mistakes. But I hit good shots, made a few putts and I’m looking forward to playing on the weekend. A lot of the time, you just want to hit to the safe spot here, which might be 20 feet from the hole.
“I just want to stick with my routine and the process tomorrow. This is a big event for me because it’s home. I mean, I’m staying in a hotel because of the traffic, but it feels like I’m playing at home.”
Saunders, whose grandfather Arnold Palmer won what started out as the Los Angeles Open three times, bounced back from a double bogey-bogey skid on the 12th and 13th holes after starting at No. 10 with five birdies on his last eight holes before darkness halted play.
Ryan Moore held the lead before making bogeys on the 12th and 15th holes in a second straight 68 and is one stroke back in fourth, while first-round co-leader Tony Finau shot 71 and is two behind in a tie for fifth with Scott Stallings, who is 5-under after 16 holes of round two.
Jamie Lovemark of Rancho Santa Fe and USC, Bubba Watson and Derek Fathauer all had 70s and are another stroke down in a tie for seventh with Kevin Na of Diamond Bar, who is 4-under through 15 holes in round two.
Fourth-ranked Justin Thomas totaled 71 and is in a tie for 15th that includes 10th-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who had a 69, while third-ranked Jordan Spieth carded a 70 and is in a tie for 23rd that includes two-time Riviera winner Phil Mickelson, who had a 71, and top-ranked Dustin Johnson bounced back from a 74 with a 69 and is tied for 52nd.
Tournament host Tiger Woods struggled to a 76 on Riviera’s narrow fairways and tricky greens to miss the cut by four strokes in the tournament in which he made his PGA Tour debut at age 16 in 1992.
“I didn’t feel good on the greens, needed to make a run on the back nine and couldn’t do it,” said Woods, playing in his second official event after his fourth back surgery. “I got the weekend off and a couple more days to work on things.
“But it’s nice to be back playing and the good thing is that I am able to practice and work on things after each round. It’s just the inconsistency of it right now, although at times I feel like I’m close. I’m happy with some things, not so much with others.
“I just need more reps in competition.”
Earlier in the day, Woods committed to the Honda Classic next week on the Champion Course at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
For complete results, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html.
