NORTON, Mass. — Sergio Garcia started with the lead in the Deutsche Bank Championship and shot 65. And he needed just about every birdie.
On a TPC Boston softened by so much rain that the third round Sunday had to be started over, Garcia kept his nose in front and gave himself a two-shot cushion with a birdie on the final hole as darkness settled over New England.
Nothing is close to being settled at this FedEx Cup playoff event.
Garcia was at 19-under 194 and had a two-shot lead over Henrik Stenson, perhaps the hottest player in golf with two runner-up finishes and two third-place finishes in his last five events. The Swede went birdie-for-birdie with Garcia for much of the overcast day until a three-putt bogey on the 17th caused him to settle for a 66.
Graham DeLaet of Canada all but locked up a spot on the Presidents Cup team with a 62 that left him three shots behind with Steve Stricker, who had a 63 and took a big step toward making the U.S. team for the matches next month at Muirfield Village.
PGA champion Jason Dufner had a share of the lead until cooling off on the back nine. He had a 66 and was tied for fifth at 15-under 198 with Robert Castro (68).
The scoring was simply relentless on a course that is long and wide with pristine conditions. The TPC Boston became a pushover with such soft conditions, and it became even easier because players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls through the green.
About the only ones who couldn’t keep up were the star attractions at the start of the week — Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
Mickelson, who started the third round five shots out of the lead, had his second straight 71, and this one wasn’t exciting at all. He had three birdies, three bogeys, 12 pars and wound up 12 shots behind.
Woods didn’t get anything going early and fell apart on the back nine, starting with a tee shot into a hazard well right of the 10th fairway. He began the back nine with three straight bogeys and ended with a three-putt par on the 18th for a 1-over 72. It ended six straight rounds in the 60s in the FedEx Cup playoffs, and much worse, left him with no chance of winning going into the off week. He was 13 shots back.
“I just didn’t have it today,” Woods said. “I just didn’t hit it well. I didn’t make anything. I had a bad day at the wrong time.”
The average score was 68.2, and anything higher than that meant losing ground.
Going into the Labor Day final round, 25 players have posted all three rounds in the 60s, and most of them don’t have a chance. There were 332 birdies and 10 eagles Sunday, meaning players had sub-par holes a whopping 32 percent of the time.
“We can’t control the weather,” Garcia said. “And you’ve just got to go out there and try to play the best you can. And I was very happy to see that my best was 6-under.”
Monday is filled with plenty of ramifications.
Garcia is trying to end a troublesome season with his first PGA Tour win, trying to move past his humbling moment this spring when a public spat with Woods led to Garcia making a racially insensitive “fried chicken” comment at a London dinner. Stenson has done everything but win in the last two months — third at the Scottish Open and PGA Championship, runner-up at the British Open and a World Golf Championship.
Stricker’s goal when he showed up at the Deutsche Bank was to make the Presidents Cup team so that U.S. captain Fred Couples wouldn’t have to consider using a pick, if Stricker even wants to be picked. Now only three shots behind, Stricker is thinking more about a chance to win for the first time this year, go to the Presidents Cup and set up a family working vacation at Kapalua next year.
The top 70 in the FedEx Cup advance to the third playoff event in two weeks north of Chicago. Ernie Els is among those on the cusp. Ian Poulter, despite a pair of late bogeys, had a 66 and was six shots out of the lead He appears safe for Chicago, and now can try to think about qualifying for the Tour Championship for the first time.
Rory McIlroy made the cut on the number and still was lingering at the bottom of the pack after a double bogey. Then, he ran off eight birdies over his last 13 holes, with girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki showing up for the last two hours. McIlroy is too far back to win, but he can make his bid for the Tour Championship a lot easier.
The third round was barely an hour old when rain caused not only a three-hour delay, but forced officials to scrap the round and start over. That took two birdies away from Webb Simpson and two bogeys away from Zach Johnson. It didn’t really matter. Both were at the bottom of the pack, and one of them looked likely to miss out on a spot on the Presidents Cup team.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.