Australian Marc Leishman recorded a 3-under-par 68 to extend his
lead to five strokes Saturday at the BMW Championship in Lake
Forest.
Leishman, who resides at 19-under 194 for the tournament, is
comfortably ahead of countryman Jason Day and American Rickie
Fowler heading into the final round at Conway Farms.
The 33-year-old Leishman is 18 holes from his third PGA Tour
victory and his second this year, following his win at the Arnold
Palmer in March. Should he stave off the field on Sunday, Leishman
will secure one of the top five seeds at the Tour Championship next
week while the top 30 advance to the tournament itself.
Leishman's 194 is one stroke behind the tournament-best total that
Day recorded in 2015. Leishman's total, however, serves as his best
54-hole mark on the PGA Tour.
Leishman shared the 54-hole lead at the Dell Technologies
Championship TPC Boston two weeks ago with Justin Thomas, who
surged ahead in the final round to win the event.
"Putting four good rounds together (is the biggest challenge)"
Leishman said, according to CBSSports.com. "A lot of tournaments
you put three rounds together. May not be in a row. Very easy to
throw a mediocre round in there. Tomorrow I got to try not to do
that.
"After what happened at the Dell, I got extra determination to
finish this one off and my game is in a better spot. I feel like
this course sets up for me a little better than it did at Dell.
Hopefully I can just play well, do the right things and not worry
about the result too much, as hard as that will be."
Day, who won the tournament in 2015, and Fowler each carded a 70 on
Saturday. Day closed within two shots at the turn before collecting
eight pars and a bogey on the back nine.
"Bit of a grind out there today," Day said. "I thought with the pin
locations, looking at them this morning, I felt there was an
opportunity to shoot a low score, which there was. To be honest, to
only have one bogey -- obviously I missed opportunities out there
like a couple on the last two days. I missed those today and,
unfortunately, shot 1 under. With the way I was hitting it, I'm
actually quite happy."
Day, however, knows that overcoming Leishman could be a tall order
on Sunday.
"Leish is playing spectacular," Day said. "Quite happy with how
he's happy because we're on the Presidents Cup team together but
saying that, I mean he's going to be very difficult to beat
tomorrow. I got to come out and play really good golf because he's
not making any mistakes. (He's) hitting it on the greens and holing
putts. That's a good formula for success and it's going to be tough
tomorrow."
Fowler got off on the right foot by sinking a 25-foot eagle putt on
the opening hole, but mustered just one birdie the rest of the day.
He failed to convert putts from approximately six feet away on
consecutive holes on the back nine.
Britain's Justin Rose shot a bogey-free round and finished with a
66 on Saturday to reside in fourth place, seven strokes behind
Leishman.
Spaniard Jon Rahm carded a 65 in the third round to pull himself
into a seven-way tie at 11 under. Others included in that mix are
Scott Brown, Ryan Moore, Charley Hoffman, Chez Reavie and Matt
Kuchar -- who each shot a 67 on Saturday -- and Patrick Cantlay
(70).
Phil Mickelson shot a 69 on Saturday, marking his seventh straight
round in the 60s. He sits at 9 under for the tournament.
