Lack of Movement Has Tightly-Packed Leaders at DBC; Day Holds One-Shot Lead Entering Final Round - September 4th

NORTON, Mass. – Jason Day leads a tightly packed Leaderboard through three rounds at the Deutsche Bank Championship after carding a 5-under-par 66 to stand at 17-under-par heading to Monday’s final round.

The 54-hole score of 196 ties the tournament record set in 2008 by Mike Weir. Day, though, hopes to avoid Weir’s fate from two years ago when the Canadian imploded in the final round and finished five shots in back of champion Vijay Singh.

Trailing Day by a shot is Brandt Snedeker, who looked like he would have more distance to make up but was able to scramble down the stretch to claw within a shot. Snedeker trailed Day by three shots heading to the par-3 16th. But a bogey by Day at the signature hole combined with a birdie by Snedeker cut the lead to one. Another Snedeker bird at 17 drew the pair even.

Snedeker, however, got into trouble at the home hole, putting his second shot into the hazard short of the green. After taking a drop, his fourth shot fell well short of the green. Looking like it could be a major swing in position, Snedeker pulled one last shot out of his hat, dropping home the 40-foot chip for par.

“I was thinking in my head that [Snedeker] would make bogey,” said Day, who was lying two in the fringe just 25 feet in back of the cup and got up and down for birdie. “I thought I’d make either eagle or birdie and have some breathing room. But Brandt is a competitor and he made a great shot to save par.”

Trailing Day (17-under) and Snedeker (16-under) is Luke Donald at -15. A captain’s pick for the European Ryder Cup team a week ago, Donald has played solid throughout the week carding rounds of 65, 67 and a 66 on Sunday.

"I played really nicely on the back nine and gave myself a lot of chances," said Donald.

Defending champion Steve Stricker sits tied for fourth with Charlie Hoffman, both at 13-under. Unique to Striker’s week is the fact that through three rounds he has yet to make a bogey.

The two biggest movers on the day were Geoff Ogilvy and Adam Scott. Both began the day at 6-under and each carded 6-under-par 66 to climb to 12- under on the tournament, five in back of Day.

“I was pleased with how I putted,” said Scott, the inaugural championship in 2003 at the Deutsche Bank Championship. “It was solid. I made some putts and I didn’t miss anything that I should be making. Very happy with it, 6-under.”

“Yesterday, I played fine, I just didn’t make any putts,” said Ogilvy, who opened with a 64 but followed that with a 72 on Saturday. “The first round and today I putted really well. So hopefully [the field] doesn’t run away too much on the back nine and I’ll have a shot tomorrow.”

World number one Tiger Woods was unable to make the major move he needed to get back into contention. Though Woods, who began the day at 5-under-par, got to 8-under with a birdie at the par-5 7th, he gave back two shots with bogeys at 9 and 14 before flopping an eagle chip at 18 to 9 inches and tapping hope for birdie. His 2-under-par 69 left him at 7-under for the tournament but still 10 shots in back of the leader heading to Monday.

“Today was definitely a challenge,” said Woods who carded back-to-back rounds in the 60s for just the second time this season. “When the wind blows, nothing really feels natural. I had to really grind and stay committed to what I was doing out there.”

The day’s biggest highlight came from two-time champion Vijay Singh. At the par-5 second, Singh stroked a 5-iron from 229 yards into the hole for the rare double eagle. That temporarily put him at 11-under but from there the day became a struggle. Singh finished the day at 2-under-par and is seven shots back at 10-under.

Monday’s final round will tee off at 7:50 a.m. with the final pairing of Day and Snedeker slated to hit the course at 1:40 p.m.

As for the leader Day, after being in the hunt a number of times in recent weeks, he has one focus heading to Monday.

The biggest thing to me tomorrow is committing to the shot and hitting it,” said Day, who would move to second in the FedExCup points standing with a victory. “I want to give myself as many birdie shots as possible.”