No lead is really safe at birdie-friendly Sedgefield Country Club. The last time Sergio Garcia played at the Greensboro, N.C., course, he learned that the hard way.
Garcia shot a 4-under 66 on Saturday to take the lead at 14-under 196 after three rounds at the Wyndham Championship.
It’s a familiar spot for the Spaniard, who shared the third-round lead in 2009 but wound up finishing fourth after falling a stroke shy of a three-man playoff.
“Eighteen pars are not going to win it,” Garcia said. “You have to make some birdies out there. … I don’t have a number. I’m not going to say I need to shoot 4 under, 5 under, or whatever. Someone might go out and shoot 9 under, and 5 under’s not good enough.”
Tim Clark and Bud Cauley were a stroke back, and Jason Dufner, Harris English and Carl Pettersson were at 12 under in the last event before the FedEx Cup playoffs next week at the Barclays.
Dufner shot a 63 – the day’s best round. Cauley had a 66, Clark shot a 67, and English and Pettersson had 68s.
Garcia – whose second-round 63 marked his best PGA Tour round in a decade – made a move with consecutive birdies midway through the back nine that briefly helped him leapfrog his playing partner, Clark.
Garcia plopped his tee shot 4 feet from the flagstick on the par-3 12th and tapped in, then followed that with a birdie on No. 13 to move to 14 under.
If he can keep it rolling for one more round, he might claim his first win on the tour since 2008 – and strengthen his chances to make the European Ryder Cup team.
“Winning means a lot, no matter what,” Garcia said.
HUSTON FORGES LEAD
Defending champion John Huston shot a 5-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Brad Faxon after the second round of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, N.Y.
Huston had a 12-under 132 total in the Champions Tour event at En-Joie Golf Club. Faxon shot a 66.
Huston is playing a lot like he did last year at En-Joie, when he took his only victory on the 50-and-over circuit, and said his previous success gives him confidence heading into the final round.
“It’s a similar feeling. Anytime you’re near the lead, you feel like you should have a chance,” said Huston, a seven-time winner on the PGA Tour. “You just try to keep the momentum that you had going and not really think about, there’s a long ways to go.”
MIYAZATO LEADS LPGA
Japan’s Mika Miyazato shot a 4-under 68 to take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the LPGA Tour’s Safeway Classic in North Plains, Ore., about 20 miles northwest of Portland.
Miyazato, tied for the first-round lead with Sydnee Michaels after a 65, had an 11-under 133 total on Pumpkin Ridge’s Ghost Creek Course.
South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu, the Toledo Classic winner last week, was second after a 68. Ryu and Miyazato, winless in her four seasons on the LPGA Tour, will be paired together for the third consecutive day.
It was nearly 30 degrees cooler Saturday following Friday’s scorching 100-degree day. Players said lower temperatures made the 6,611-yard course play longer.
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