Golf roundup
A nine-time winner on the European Tour, Alex Noren of Sweden gave himself a chance to make his mark in America with a 3-under 69 on Saturday for a one-shot lead going into the final round of the Farmers Insurance.
Noren finished strong, unlike some of his top challengers. He drilled his second shot over the water on the par-5 18th at Torrey Pines to the back fringe, setting up a simple two-putt birdie.
Ryan Palmer had a chance to tie him for the lead until he came out of a wedge and missed the green to the right. He settled for par and a 73.
Jon Rahm, the defending champion who can go to No. 1 in the world with a victory this week, was poised to get within one shot, or possibly tie for the lead. From the middle of the fairway, Rahm’s 4-iron came up short and into the water. After a penalty drop, his wedge bounced hard and through the green. His chip came out soft, and he missed a 6-foot putt to make double bogey.
That left him four shots out of the lead. Rahm was three shots behind going into the final round when he won last year.
Tiger Woods was superb with his short game for the second straight day, and it’s a good thing. Woods was so wild off the tee that he hit only one fairway on the back nine and three fairways for the round. He putted for birdie on only nine holes. And he still managed to scratch out a 70.
Woods was eight shots behind, in the middle of the pack.
“It’s not the driver, it’s my swing,” said Woods, who has hit only six fairways since Thursday. “Some of my go-to shots aren’t there. Some of the shots I like to hit under certain circumstances aren’t there, either. The only thing I have is my short game and my heart, and that got me through today.”
Noren, who played his college golf at Oklahoma State, cracked the top 10 in the world at the end of 2016 after a four-victory season and now is at No. 19. This is his first year playing with a PGA Tour card.
Henderson leads in LPGA event: Brooke Henderson birdied the par-5 18th hole and had a one-stroke lead over top-ranked Shanshan Feng on Saturday in the suspended second round of the wind-swept Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic.
Henderson shot an even-par 73 to get to 5 under overall after two rounds and three days at the Ocean Club Golf Course in the event cut to 54 holes after wind wiped out play most of Friday.
“It was windy today,” Henderson said. “I feel like overall Britt (caddie and sister) and I did a really good job again just calculating numbers and negotiating the wind as best we could. There was a couple of bogeys I would like to take back, but having four birdies is really good.”
Feng had nine holes left when play was suspended because of darkness. On her last hole, the Chinese star birdied the 18th.
“I know this is only the first tournament of the year, but normally I’m pretty good in the wind,” Feng said. “Actually, I get more excited in the wind. It’s not really bothering me.”
Lexi Thompson was 3 under along with Ryann O’Toole, Danielle Kang, Luna Sobron Galmes and Wei-Ling Hsu. Thompson and Sobron Galmes had 10 holes to play in the second round, and Hsu had nine left. O’Toole had a 69, and Kang shot 73.
- Brittany Lincicome, the winner last year in a playoff over Thompson, was 2 under with nine holes left. Michelle Wie was even par for the week with nine holes to