Memorial Tournament 2019: Martin Kaymer Leads Adam Scott by 2 After 3rd Round
June 1, 2019
Martin Kaymer will go into the final day of the 2019 Memorial Tournament with a two-stroke lead after shooting a 66 in Round 3 Saturday.
The German moved to 15 strokes under par for the week at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, putting him 18 holes away from his first PGA Tour win of 2019.
Adam Scott sits in second place at 13 under, although Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama and Patrick Cantlay also remain in striking distance with one round remaining in the prestigious tournament.
Round 3 Leaderboard
1. Martin Kaymer (-15)
2. Adam Scott (-13)
T3. Patrick Cantlay (-11)
T3. Hideki Matsuyama (-11)
T3. Jordan Spieth (-11)
T6. Kyoung-Hoon Lee (-9)
T6. Marc Leishman (-9)
T6. Bud Cauley (-9)
9. Emiliano Grillo (-8)
T10. Justin Rose (-7)
T10. Rickie Fowler (-7)
T10. Jason Dufner (-7)
T10. Troy Merritt (-7)
T10. Kevin Streelman (-7)
Full leaderboard at statistics available at PGATour.com.
There was a three-way tie for first entering the day between Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Kaymer and Troy Merritt, but they each took different paths in the round.
Kaymer was easily the most consistent, avoiding bogeys and carding six birdies in an impressive day to take the lead. He made some difficult shots look easy during an unbelievable putting round where he gained 4.02 shots on the green:
He only has three total bogeys through his first 54 holes, with his last one coming on the ninth hole in Round 2.
It seemed Lee would provide the biggest challenge with four birdies in his first five holes to take the early lead, but he came back to earth with five bogeys the rest of the way to end up with an even-par 72. Merritt had a difficult time finding birdies and ended up at seven under after shooting a 74.
These struggles opened the door for some bigger names to climb up the leaderboard, including Scott, who had his second straight round of 66.
Spieth also remained in good shape despite a rough start, shooting a 32 on the back nine after going out with 37 on the front nine. He had four birdies after the turn to help get into a tie for third place:
Kyle Porter of CBS Sports broke down Spieth's playing style:
Kyle Porter @KylePorterCBSSpieth is one-handing shots down the middle of the fairway and chasing every putt closer than 10 feet. Looks like he's shooting 79 while he shoots 69 (which should go on his tombstone). He's been terrific without putting out of his mind, which is pretty 🤔 for Pebble. https://t.co/l9iHYvA7y7
The best round of the day went to Matsuyama, who climbed from a tie for 25th into a tie for third place after shooting a 64 in Round 3.
He had eight birdies in a bogey-free round, with this chip arguably being his most impressive of the day:
With an 85.7 percent driving accuracy and 83.3 percent greens in regulation, Matsuyama had a nearly flawless round to put him in great position going into Sunday.
Tiger Woods has a chance to get into the top 10 with a strong finish, although he was disappointed with his performance from Saturday.
He had six birdies on the day, especially helping himself with his approach shots:
Unfortunately, he only finished with a 70 thanks to two bogies and a double bogey.
"I've never seen a round where I lipped out more shots," Woods said, per Golf Channel's Tiger Tracker. "...It was unreal."
He will hope to find some better luck with the U.S. Open right around the corner.