Golf: Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson shot a seven-under-par 63 to leap to the top of the Travelers Championship last night. The 36-year-old began the day eight shots adrift of the lead, and completed a solid second-round 66 before adding three birdies in the first seven holes of his third round to join overnight leader Patrick Cantlay at the head of the field.
And four more on the back nine meant he remains bogey-free through 54 holes and leads by one stroke from American Bryce Molder. Jacobson is searching for his first win in 187 PGA Tour appearances, but is in pole position to go one better than his three runner-up finishes — thanks in no small part to the second best putting record in the field, with 77 so far.
The most spectacular of those today was a 23-foot effort from off the right side of the 10th green for birdie, while a superb approach to the 14th left him pin-high and with a straightforward 11-footer to gain another shot.
An early bogey at the par-four third was all that separated Molder from top spot as he too produced seven birdies as he followed up rounds of 65 and 66. The last of those came via a superb 38-foot putt across a huge left-to-right break at the 17th.
James Driscoll lies two shots further behind in outright third position after five birdies on the back nine helped him to a second successive 64, one shot ahead of a group of six players at 12 under. That includes Ryan Moore, second at this tournament in 2006 and joint fourth three years later, who was yet another player to card 64 today.
Cantlay slipped back to 11 under after bogeying the last two holes today for a two-over-par 72. He had recovered from a bogey at the third by holing good 20-foot birdie putts at nine and 11 but dropped another shot with a six at the long 13th and missed five putts from inside 10 feet today.
His poor finish left him five shots back and level with five other players including Kevin Streelman, who played his first eight holes today in level par but then knocked in seven birdies in the last 10 holes to surge into contention.
Two players could boast a hole in one on today’s cards, with DJ Brigman (seven under) dropping a nine iron at the 150-yard 11th before Nate Smith (four under) spectacularly holed out with a hybrid at the long par-three fifth. Neither player could make a sustained move though, with Smith only recording a level-par round despite his remarkable ace.
England’s Brian Davis is 10 under and Ian Poulter eight under, but Ireland’s Padraig Harrington scraped through right on the cut mark of four under and shot 71 in his third round after a seven at the 13th.
