American Johnson Wagner seized a two-stroke lead at the US PGA Greenbrier Classic while Australians Matt Jones and Stephen Bowditch remain in contention heading into the final round.
Wagner made seven birdies, the last of them on a 12-foot putt at the par-3 18th, against a lone bogey, en rout to a six-under par 64 in the third round of the $US6.3 million event on Saturday.
He sits on 14-under 196 after 54 holes, two strokes ahead of countryman Jimmy Walker, who fired a bogey-free 64 at The Old White.
Sweden’s Jonas Blixt was third on 200, one stroke ahead of Jones, Bowditch and US teen Jordan Spieth, who sit five strokes off the pace at 201.
Bowditch (69), who was only a shot adrift after round two, couldn’t repeat his strong form on Saturday firing four bogeys and five birdies to slip two places down the leaderboard into a tie for fourth spot.
Bowditch has only one top-10 finish in four seasons on the US PGA Tour.
Jones meanwhile, carded five birdies and a lone bogey for a four-under 66 round to climb 13 places and keep himself in the hunt.
Wagner, who opened with a 62 on Thursday, missed the cut in six of his past seven starts and withdrew from the other after the first round.
But thanks to some extra work with his coach last month, he was poised to capture his fourth career US PGA title after triumphs at the 2008 Houston Open, the 2011 Mayakoba Classic in Mexico and last year’s Sony Open in Hawaii.
“I had a little ‘Boot Camp’ with my coach two weeks ago and got my game back to where it was heading into Hawaii two years ago,” Wagner said. “I’m feeling really good right now. I’m able to shape the ball. It’s really clicking.”
When the last pairing teed off, there were 19 players within two strokes of the lead and 36-hole leader Matt Every stumbled with three bogeys in the first four holes, setting the stage for Wagner to seize command.
Wagner opened with a 14-foot birdie putt, sank an eight-foot birdie putt at the par-3 third and tapped in for a birdie at the fifth to reach 11-under and grab a two-stroke lead.
Walker, seeking his first PGA title, shared third this year at Pebble Beach to match his best career PGA showing from the 2010 Texas Open.
Blixt won his only PGA title at last year’s Frys.com Open. While he has not cracked the top 10 in a US PGA event this year, he finished second last month at the European Tour’s Swedish Masters.
