Sunday 2 August 2015 23:35, UK
Troy Merritt fired a sensational 61 to earn a share of the lead as Rickie Fowler and Justin Rose remained in contention after the third round of the Quicken Loans National.
While tournament host Tiger Woods sprayed his ball to all parts of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club and tumbled out of the running, Merritt posted a new tournament record with a superb 10-under card that featured a barrage of birdies at either end of his round.
Merritt birdied the first five holes and picked up another at the seventh, but a careless three-putt at the long eighth led to his only blemish of the day.
He steadied himself with three pars before reeling off four consecutive birdies from the 12th, and he knocked a sublime approach to 10 feet from a fairway bunker at the 17th and converted the putt to move to 14 under par.
"The big thing is we put ourselves in contention and that was the goal," Merritt said. "I hit the ball really well and got a lot out of it. I think we're going to have a decent chance.
"I finally made some putts. It's really frustrating the first few days hitting the ball really, really well and having good proximity to the hole and not getting much out of it. Today I hit the ball really well and got a lot out of it.
"Making birdie at 12 was a huge momentum gain. Then i went on to birdie 13, 14 and 15 making good putts."
Chappell earns a share
Merritt, chasing his first PGA Tour victory, spent hours in the clubhouse lead before he was finally caught by fellow American Kevin Chappell after he carded five birdies and just one bogey in a solid four-under 67.
Fowler, who holed a mammoth 70-foot putt for a birdie at the fourth, also reached 14 under when he rolled in his sixth birdie putt of the day at the 16th, but a wayward approach to the next forced him to scramble hard just to save a bogey.
A par at the last gave Fowler a 68 which left him one off the lead, while Jason Bohn, Whee Kim and Charles Howell III all fired 67s to move to 12 under alongside The Memorial champion David Lingmerth (68).
Rose, who lost out to Lingmerth in a tense play-off in the Jack Nicklaus-hosted event in June, moved to within three of the lead as he made seven birdies and only one blemish in an encouraging six-under 65.
"It's going to take something I would imagine in the realm of 63" to win," said Rose, winner of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans back in April.
The 2013 US Open champion is well placed on 11 under with Bill Haas and Carl Pettersson, who both returned high-quality 64s, while overnight leader Ryo Ishikawa struggled after an outward 34 and had to settle for a 71.
