Three double-bogeys and six birdies in Round 3 at the PGA Championship led to an even-par 72 for former University of Kansas All-American Gary Woodland on Saturday.
And while the up-and-down round allowed him to hold his spot in the top 10, where he sits tied for seventh, Woodland enters Sunday’s final round five strokes off the lead held by Phil Mickelson.
Woodland’s third round at the Ocean Course in Kiawah Island, S.C., started off in good form. He birdied two of his first four holes and moved to 4-under for the event. Following a par on the par-3 fifth hole, it looked as if Woodland was poised to play himself into contention at the top of the leaderboard.
But a double-bogey 6 on hole No. 6 began the slide and served as a sign of things to come. Woodland recovered to record pars on the final three holes of the front nine and then got the two strokes he lost back with birdies at 10 and 11.
But a double-bogey 6 at No. 12 sent him back down the slide and he doubled No. 15 to fall to 2-over for the day.
Not derailed by losing four strokes to par in his previous four holes, Woodland birdied the par-5 16th hole and the par-3 17th to move back to even for his wild round.
Saturday marked his second consecutive even-par round of 72 of the tournament, which followed a 2-under 70 in Round 1.
Given the week’s conditions and the fact that he’s still behind just seven golfers heading into the final round, Woodland is still in the hunt. But he’ll need his best round of the week on Sunday, along with a little help, to make a push for the second major championship title of his career.
Woodland is slated to tee off at 12:50 p.m. on Sunday, when he’ll play with Paul Casey.
