PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Ludvig Aberg made his third eagle of the week on Saturday at The Gamers Championship, minimizing errors for a 1-under 71 and giving the 26-year-old Swede a three-shot lead heading into the ultimate spherical at TPC Sawgrass.
Aberg had a number of probabilities to crush the hopes of just about everybody pursuing him. On the par-5 sixteenth gap, he hit a 7-iron onto the inexperienced from 193 yards out from the green. He sank an 8-foot birdie putt to the entrance pin on the island inexperienced seventeenth. On the finish, I hit 25 ft and bought a birdie.
He performed one over (two pars, a three-putt bogey on the finish). It was a reminder that the ultimate 18 holes nonetheless really feel far-off on this harmful stadium course.
Aberg mentioned he needed not less than one birdie and mentioned, “That three-putt is just a little irritating.”
“However I began with a two-shot lead and completed with a three-shot lead, in order that’s a optimistic factor,” he mentioned.
Aberg is 13-under 203 and will likely be within the last group with Michael Thorbjornsen. He additionally lives within the space and is at TPC Sawgrass when not on tour. They’re mates who play continuously, in addition to being two of probably the most elite gamers in school. Each had been No. 1 within the PGA Tour school rankings to earn a PGA Tour card.
Thorbjornsen shot a 67 to make the ultimate group and is trying to turn into solely the third participant to win The Gamers in his first try, and the primary since Craig Parkes in 2002.
“I do not assume we have to change a lot, particularly on a course like this,” Thorbjornsen mentioned. “I believe should you play actually constant golf you may discover some birdies. Has anybody had a bogey-free spherical yesterday or in the present day? I am undecided, however not that many. So I believe gradual and regular will win the race. We’ll simply play stable golf.”
Cameron Younger was Aberg’s greatest menace on the again 9, making a 45-foot birdie putt on the par-3 thirteenth and getting away with a barely heavier wedge on the par-3 seventeenth. It settled 2 ft away and was the closest shot of the day.
“I attempted to land it at 133 levels and I made it just a little fatter and it flew to a foot,” he mentioned.
The outlet he confronted on the 18th, two strokes behind, took a toll on him. Younger pulled the drive simply sufficient to barely discover water on the left facet. He pushed his third shot right into a tough, tough mogul and chipped a tough, quick inexperienced right into a bunker. Nevertheless, he holed an 8-foot putt for double bogey and ran away with a 72, leaving him with a four-stroke lead.
Huge failures price many others.
Justin Thomas, who was enjoying nicely in his second match since coming back from hip surgical procedure in November, made a triple bogey on the sixth gap, going from the water to the tough after which over the inexperienced. His tee shot on the reachable par-4 twelfth fell into the water. However he held on, then made two birdies and shot a 72.
Thomas completed at 8-under 208, 5 pictures behind Matt Fitzpatrick (69), Brian Herman (69), Viktor Hovland (69), Corey Connors (72) and Xander Schauffele (74). Schauffele was within the last group, however he was solely 8 and solely had one birdie.
That is Younger’s fourth look at The Gamers, however he has by no means completed within the prime 50, however his optimism was excessive even after ending with a double bogey.
“I dropped two off the tee, however I used to be in a position to save one with my putter,” he mentioned of hitting the 8-footer. “So it might have been lots worse. I drew a nasty lie proper in entrance of the inexperienced the place I believed there was a superb likelihood of going up and down. I used to be in a position to save one with my putter and that is one thing I’ll take again.”
That he felt he might nonetheless play within the sport mentioned extra in regards to the give-and-take nature of TPC Sawgrass than it did about Aberg and his extremely environment friendly swing, who performed within the Ryder Cup simply 4 months after graduating from school in 2023.
Aberg shot a 63 within the second spherical to take the lead. Thomas hit 62 final 12 months. Saturday’s greatest rating was a 65 by Robert McIntyre.
“With that many on the market, there is no motive I am unable to shoot them,” Younger mentioned.
The ultimate group is a duo of locals. One got here from Sweden by way of Texas Tech College, and the opposite got here from a Boston suburb by way of Stanford. Neither participant performs the Stadium Course a lot, because the circumstances are hardly ever seen at The Gamers.
However they only aren’t in as a lot hazard and know how you can get round it.
