Vijay Singh reeled off two late birdies to join Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood in a three-way tie for the lead after the third round of the Bridgestone Invitational on Saturday.
Stuart Appleby is stroke adrift of the leaders in a crowded leaderboard at the US$8 million WGC tournament.
Mickelson posted a two-under-par 68 in a stiff breeze at Firestone Country Club. He rolled in three consecutive birdies beginning at the 14th hole.
PHOTO: AFP
“I’m excited that I’m tied for the lead,” Mickelson said. “I was just a little bit off, missing fairways by four or five yards, and then I missed it big on 11 and 13. I was getting misaligned in my set-up and it was affecting my swing.”
“My alignment was just not quite square to the target. I had been swinging great this week [but] if you’re misaligned, you’ve got to make a compensation,” he said.
Singh, a Fijian-Indian, stumbled slightly with a bogey on 17 to shoot 69, while Westwood shot 67.
Appleby finished strong with a short birdie putt at No 18 for a 67, with Retief Goosen three shots off the pace after a 68.
Singh played with Mickelson in the final pairing.
“It could have been a better round but you’ve got to take what it gives you,” he said.
“A few short putts here and there would have made a big difference but I made a few as well, so that kind of evens it out. I played solid today and if I can do that tomorrow, I think I have a chance,” he said.
Westwood came out with plenty of spark by making birdie on the opening three holes.
“I played pretty solid all day,” the Englishman said. “I hit a couple of poor iron shots but other than that I gave myself a pretty pain free day under quite testing conditions.”
“I felt really comfortable [on the greens] today and it showed on the longer [putts]. I was running it at the hole most of the day,” he said.
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