close

Pair share Quicken Loans lead

3 min read
article image -

GAINESVILLE, Va. – Troy Merritt couldn’t miss Saturday in the Quicken Loans National. Tiger Woods couldn’t make anything.

Merritt shot a tournament-record 10-under 61 to top the leaderboard even before the leading contenders teed off. It held up, too, as several players made runs at joining him at 14 under, but only Kevin Chappell, another veteran seeking a breakthrough victory, didn’t fade in the searing heat at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

Chappell had a 67. Rickie Fowler (68) was a stroke back, and Jason Bohn (67), Whee Kim (67), Charles Howell III (67) and David Lingmerth (68) followed at 12 under.

Woods, who seemed to signal a return to contending golf Friday with a 66 that moved him within three strokes of the lead, was errant off the tee early and had several birdie putts slide by the hole.

While Merritt had 11 birdies and a bogey on the par-5 eighth, Woods didn’t make his first birdie until a 17-foot putt dropped on the par-4 15th. He hit his tee shot on the 187-yard 16th to inches, flashing a huge smile on the tee box, and then made a bogey at the par-4 18th to finish with a 74. He’ll start Sunday nine shots back.

“I was waiting for the one moment, the one shot. I couldn’t find it,” Woods said, adding that after starting with seven consecutive pars, he thought it might come at the par-5 eighth when his tee shot finally found the fairway.

Instead, his 3-wood approach sailed over the green and he made a bogey.

“I was dead back there, compounding the problem,” he said.

Merritt had long since finished and went into the final round as the leader for the second time this season. He had the lead to himself after the second and third rounds of the RBC Heritage, but finished third.

Merritt had missed five consecutive cuts coming into the week.

“The big thing is we put ourselves into contention for tomorrow and that was the goal,” he said. “I wanted to have a good week this week and I’ve been taking weekends off for two months now.”

While Woods struggled, Trinity High School graduate Steve Wheatcroft moved up to a tie for 21st after shooting a 3-under-par 71, including three birdies on the back-9. Wheatcroft only had one bogey and is seven shots off the lead entering the final round.

Chappell wasn’t as spectacular, but started the day tied for third and more than kept pace with the field.

Ko, Lu share lead at Women’s British Open: South Korea’s Jin-Young Ko and Taiwan’s Teresa Lu each shot 3-under 69 to share the third-round lead in the Women’s British Open.

The 20-year-old Ko, playing in her first major championship, and Lu were at 8-under 208 on Turnberry’s Ailsa Course. Norway’s Suzann Pettersen, the second-round leader, was a stroke back after a 72.

Perry’s ace enough for lead: Defending champion Kenny Perry had a hole-in-one and matched the 3M Championship record with an 11-under 61 to take a four-stroke lead in the Champions Tour’s event.

Perry played the first eight holes in 7 under, making the ace on the 188-yard fourth hole, and had two birdies on the back nine and closed with an 18-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today