Blue skies and gentle breezes turned the Bridgestone into a free-for-all, a regular 60s party with a crowded leaderboard entering Sunday.
Steady play that didn't include a bogey anywhere on his scorecard helped Ryan Palmer grab a share of the Bridgestone Invitational lead with Sean O'Hair entering Sunday's final round at Firestone's South Course.BRIDGESTONE INVIATIONAL
THIRD ROUND AT A GLANCE
Outta the park: Dustin Johnson hammered a 376-yard drive on the ninth hole, the longest of the day. He also recorded the longest drive on holes 10 (334 yards) and 14 (341). The power game has Johnson tied for 10th at 5-under.
Short-game magic: Bill Haas, who finished 1 over for the round and is even for the tournament, sank a putt from 50 feet, 9 inches on the par-3 15th hole, the day's longest.
Marcus Fraser (212) and Martin Laird (209) each led the field with 13 1-putts.
Shot of the day: Japan's Katsumasa Miyamoto scorched the back nine with a tournament record 6-under 29, highlighted by his approach on the par-4 17th. He nailed his approach shot from a fairway bunker 117 yards away for an eagle.
Mr. Consistent: Only Sean O'Hair (64) and Ryan Palmer (63) played bogey-free rounds.
Quote of the day: “You know, it's been 10 years, but the food is still good. I went to Applebee's last night and was able to eat some chicken wings. So it's good to be back.” — Miyamoto, through an interpreter, when asked about returning to the United States and Ohio.
— Bill Lubinger, Tim Rogers
AKRON, Ohio -- After the second day of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, Phil Mickelson said he thought a low round could be found on Firestone's South Course.
It was a classic understatement.
A whole bunch of players took Mickelson's words to heart on Saturday and went out and turned the Bridgestone into a free-for-all, a regular 60s party. At one point, eight players were in or tied for the lead, thanks to little wind and soft greens that welcomed shots like a flower to a settling butterfly.
Do you think Mickelson was thinking Katsumasa Miyamoto and Ryan Palmer when he offered his observation?
Palmer, who had missed 12 of 18 cuts after winning the Sony Open in January at least partially due to a design flaw in his irons, grabbed a share of the lead with a 7-under 63 that gave him a 54-hole total of 9-under 201.
Tied with Palmer is Sean O'Hair (64), with Matt Kuchar (66) alone in third place at 202. Ernie Els (64), Peter Hanson (68) and Justin Leonard (69) are two shots back. In all there are 19 players within five shots of the lead in what could be a scintillating Sunday.
Palmer wasn’t the only one to put a dent in the leaderboard. For the second day in a row, 35 players shot rounds in the 60s.
That includes Miyamoto, who had seven birdies and an eagle en route to a stunning 8-under 62, the lowest round here since Tiger Woods' 9-under 61 in the second round of the 2000 event. Miyamato moved from 58th place into a tie for 10th.
Katsumasa Miyamoto happily accepted the cheers from the gallery around the 18th hole Saturday after his 8-under 62.Miyamoto, 37, spiked his round with an eagle on the 400-yard 17th when he holed out from a fairway bunker 117 yards from the hole. That led to a back-nine 29, which equaled the tournament record shared by Robert Allenby (2002) and Adam Scott (2006).
"I couldn't see where it went, but when I got out of the bunker I heard the crowd cheer so I knew that it went in," he said of his second shot through interpreter Allen Turner. "Of all the great players that have played here that really haven't posted that score, it's really an honor."
For those of you who don't like the unconventional consider that Miyamoto plays an orange ball (Bridgestone Tourstage), a la Jerry Pate in the early 1980s.
"I've been playing this ball for a bout two years now," he said. "In Japan, everybody knows that I use this ball. But in the States, I still kind of get the reaction from the fans that they're not used to seeing this ball."
Palmer, who discovered his new irons were 1.5 degrees flatter than his previous set, nearly matched Miyamoto. He had no dramatic shots but finished with seven birdies and no bogeys.
"I kind of struggled there for a while but I was able to put the ball on the greens in the right spots and made a lot of good putts," said Palmer, who donates $50 for every birdie and $100 for each eagle to a charity he founded in his hometown of Amarillo, Tex.
Mickelson, seeking his first Firestone victory since the 1996 NEC World Series of Golf, is one of six players five shots back. He was as low as 7-under but made back-to-back bogeys on 14 and 15, finishing at 1-over 71.
He plans on being more aggressive today.
"I'm in a much more attacking mind frame," he said. "I'm thinking I've got to be on the attack, that I've got to be firing at pins and make birdies to try and catch the lead."