BRYSON DeChambeau carded back-to-back eagles on Saturday during a frenzied third round and is tied with Patrick Cantlay for the lead at 21-under 195 heading into the final round of the BMW Championship at Owings Mills, MD.
DeChambeau parlayed the two eagles while shooting six-under 30 on the front nine before finishing at five-under 67. Cantlay played steadier golf at Caves Valley while shooting 66.
South Korea’s Sungjae Im is three shots back after a 66. Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (65), Spain’s Sergio Garcia (67), Mexico’s Abraham Ancer (66) and Sam Burns (65) are tied for fourth at 17-under 199.
Spain’s Jon Rahm slipped from a tie for second after two rounds to eighth place. He’s five shots back after a 70.
The tournament is the second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. The top 30 players in FedEx Cup points following the BMW will qualify for next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta.
DeChambeau’s consecutive eagles came on the par-5, No. 4 and the par-4, No. 5. He knocked in a 25-foot putt on No. 4 and was even better when he drilled a 53-foot putt on No. 5.
DeChambeau was 7-under for the day after a birdie on No. 11. But things disintegrated rapidly as he bogeyed No. 12 and posted a double-bogey 5 on No. 13.
After a birdie on 14, he bogeyed No. 15 before making another birdie on 16. He shot pars on the final two holes to complete the chaotic round.
Cantlay registered an eagle on the par-5 No. 2 and knocked in five birdies. Four of the birdies came on the back nine, including three in a row at 11, 12 and 13. He added another at 16 and appeared destined to finish the round in the lead.
But Cantlay bogeyed the par-4 18th to end up in a share with DeChambeau. Im connected on seven birdies against one bogey in a strong third-round performance.
South African Louis Oosthuizen shot a round-low 64 on Saturday, but he is well off the pace at 7-under 209.
McIlroy (seven birdies) and Burns (eight birdies, one bogey) were among five players who shot 65. — Reuters
