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29 March 2024

Garcia seizes solo lead at The Barclays

Published
By AFP

Spain's Sergio Garcia fired a two-under par 69 on Saturday to seize sole possession of the lead after three rounds of The Barclays, the first event in the US PGA Tour's playoffs.

Garcia, who shared the overnight lead with Nick Watney, had a 54-hole total of 10-under par 203 at Bethpage Black, two strokes in front of Watney.

Garcia, who has the Ryder Cup in his sights after his victory in last week's Wyndham Championship, survived Bethpage's fast, slick greens which caused trouble for others, including Tiger Woods.

Woods appeared to be over the sore back that bothered him on Friday, but the 14-time Major champion had four three-putts in a one-over par 72.

"I hit good putts, but my speed was awful," said Woods, who was tied for 10th at four-under par. "That was a bit of a shocker. It was slippery out there. I played a beautiful round of golf, unfortunately didn't clean it up on the greens.

"It was unbelievable how fast it got. Some of the greens have grass, some of them are on the dirt side. They're right at the limit. They're slippery once you start putting."

Garcia finished the day with five birdies and three bogeys.

Watney's five birdies were exactly balanced by five bogeys, the last a three-putt at 18.

Kevin Stadler shot up the leaderboard into third place with a bogey-free six-under 65 for 206.

Brandt Snedeker carded a 68 to share fourth place with Bob Estes (72) on 207.