HIDEKI MATSUYAMA HAS moved five shots clear at the top of the leaderboard heading into the final round of the FedEx St Jude Championship.
Seamus Power is the best of the Irish, 10 shots further back in a share of ninth, while Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy are well down the leaderboard.
Power shot a sizzling 66 on Saturday, with Lowry and McIlroy carding 70 and 74 respectively as the latter dropped to 66th place.
Matsuyama continued to defy the absence of his regular caddy and coach after their passports were stolen in London to take control of the event at TPC Southwind, Memphis.
The highlight of the Japanese 32-year-old’s third round was an eagle on the third, while he also produced five birdies and a solitary bogey in his six-under 64.
America’s Nick Dunlap is his closest rival after he shot 66 to move to 12 under par, with Viktor Hovland of Norway a shot behind in third.
Matsuyama admitted he was “surprised” to have opened such a healthy lead after changing putters at the start of the week.
“I’ve had the putter for a while, and I thought it might be a good week to debut that putter,” he said.
Defending FedEx Cup champion Hovland admitted the “ball is starting to behave like I’m expecting it to” after starting the week outside the top 50 in the rankings who qualify for next week’s BMW Championship in Colorado.
McIlroy continued to struggle with double bogeys on the 12th and 13th holes leaving him on five-over and tied in 66th. He also had bogeys on the fourth, ninth and 10th, and birdies on holes three, seven and eight.
Power continued his good form with birdies on the second, third, eighth, 15th and 16th — a bogey on hole nine was the only blot on his card — while Lowry shot a double bogey on the 16th, bogeys on one, 12, 14, and 17, and and birdies on three and 10.
Elsewhere, Leona Maguire continued to struggle at the Women’s Scottish Open. She carded another round of 75 and sits one place off the bottom on nine-over.
Stephanie Meadow and Lauren Walsh both missed the cut in Ayrshire.
USA’s Lauren Coughlin is two shots clear atop the leaderboard.
- Additional reporting from Emma Duffy.
Written by Press Association and originally published on The 42. The Journal publishes the biggest breaking news in Irish and international sport but for all of The 42′s insightful analysis and sharp sportswriting, subscribe here.
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