Sergio Garcia, seeking a European Ryder Cup spot, fired a four-under par 66 on Saturday to seize a one-stroke lead after the third round of the US PGA Wyndham Championship. Garcia, trying for his first US title since the 2008 Players Championship, stood on 14-under 196 after 54 holes, one shot in front of South African Tim Clark and American Bud Cauley.
“We’ve played good enough to put ourselves in a decent position to have a shot,” Garcia said. “We’ll go out there and see if we can play better than we did today and close it out.”
The 32-year-old Spaniard birdied the par-3 third and par-5 fifth, then jumped into contention with back-to-back birdies at the par-3 12th and par-4 13th. He took a bogey at the 14th but answered with a birdie at the par-5 15th.
Garcia would need a high finish to put himself back into an automatic qualifying spot for the Ryder Cup team, otherwise he would have to catch the eye of European captain Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain for a captain’s pick. Garcia could also boost his chances in the upcoming US PGA playoffs with a victory, but the Ryder Cup was foremost in his thoughts.
“I am thinking more about the Ryder Cup than I am about the playoffs,” said Garcia. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to play well tomorrow and even if I don’t win, it fixes everything up.” Clark fired a 67, opening with a birdie and adding another at the third, then sandwiching birdies at the 11th and 13th around a bogey at the 12th.
Cauley had back-to-back birdies at the fourth and fifth holes, took his lone bogey at the 13th and put himself in the hunt with birdies at 15, 16 and 17.
American Jason Dufner fired a sizzling bogey-free 63 to jump into a share of fourth place on 198 alongside compatriot Harris English and Sweden’s Carl Pettersson, who both fired 68s.
