2018 Phoenix Open: Rickie Fowler tops crowded leaderboard entering final round
Rickie Fowler finished birdie-birdie-birdie on Saturday to shoot a 4-under 67 and reclaim a lead he shared going into the third round of the 2018 Waste Management Phoenix Open. Fowler lingered all day before the world-class close, and his reward will be trying to hold off maybe the leaderboard of the year going into the final round.
Just behind Fowler at 14 under is Jon Rahm (-13), Bryson DeChambeau (-13), Chez Reavie (-13), Daniel Berger (-12), Xander Schauffele (-12) and Phil Mickelson (-12). There are others like Beau Hossler, Bill Haas and Gary Woodland a little further back, but the tournament will likely come down to one of those seven golfers.
That's as good as it gets at a non-major, too. All seven are compelling characters for one reason or another, and all seven would take something different from a win this week. Rahm and Fowler are trying to get to No. 1 in the world. Mickelson is looking for his first win in five years. Schauffele, Berger and DeChambeau are trying to fully establish themselves as bona fide superstars. And Reavie? Well, he's trying to play the ultimate spoiler role.
Here are five takeaways from a wild third round at TPC Scottsdale on Saturday afternoon.
1. Jon Rahm is coming: The former Arizona State Sun Devil lit it up on Saturday with a 65 in the third round to pull within one stroke. His 65 included five birdies in his last eight holes, and he made most of them look easy. Vegas lists him as a 3-1 favorite (just behind Fowler at +275). If I'm on the leaderboard, he's the one I'm most fearful of over the final 18 holes because anything is in play.
Completely unfair that Rahm putts this well — Jake Nichols (@jalnichols) February 3, 2018
Rahm nearly won this tournament as an amateur a few years ago, and it's easy to see him making it two in three weeks on the PGA Tour on Sunday. His aggressive, borderline arrogant, style will fit nicely with the shootout that's about to ensue at TPC Scottsdale. And if he comes close to an ace on the 16th in that ASU jersey, the PGA Tour might fine the Phoenix Open SEC-style for rushing the field.
2. Rickie hung on: Fowler didn't do anything fancy on Saturday, which is how you win golf tournaments when you're leading going into the weekend. Fowler only made one birdie over nine feet on Saturday, but he didn't make mistakes when he could have.
"It was a grind," Fowler told Amanda Balionis of CBS Sports. "Little off in certain areas. I tried to piece things together. We took advantage of the last few holes. That is the biggest scoring opportunity on the golf course."
Fowler continues to absolutely putt his ass off and is No. 2 in the field in strokes gained with the flat stick. He'll probably need to hit it a little bit better on Sunday than he has overall this week, but he'll be a nasty out if he's near the top late in the day.
This will be the 6th 54-hole lead/co-lead of Rickie Fowler's PGA Tour career. He has won 1 of his previous 5 attempts. — Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) February 3, 2018
3. JT's bumpy ride: Justin Thomas birdied his first six holes of the day and was borderline emitting flames with 59 in his sights. Then he made bogey at the 7th, and it got worse from there. Thomas went out in 30 and came home in 41 for the ol' even-par 71 following that six-birdie start.
His last five holes: birdie, bogey, triple, double, birdie. Complete insanity, but at least Thomas had a good attitude about it afterwards.
4. Paint, Bryson! The artist -- or le artiste, if you prefer -- painted on Saturday with a 68 following a pair of 66s. It didn't end well after making bogey at the birdie-able 17th hole, but no matter what happens on Sunday, he's going to be a blast to follow. Between his dynamic load, physics lessons and various other quirks, DeChambeau makes any leaderboard automatically better than it would be otherwise.
Throwing him into this group seems like something we as golf fans don't deserve. I can't wait to see what the canvas holds in Round 4.
5. Insane Sunday: It wasn't the capper, but we hit peak Phoenix Open on Saturday with over 200,000 in attendance for Round 3. The overall record is probably going to fall on Sunday, and everybody who attends the last 18 holes is going to get an absolute show.
Today's reported attendance: 216,818 (most in single day in tournament history). Breaks old record (Saturday last year) by 12K. — Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) February 3, 2018
The risk-reward holes down the stretch make for some of the more compelling golf we see in the first quarter of the season. Fowler said it above -- those are the best scoring opportunities on the course, but they also offer disaster if you're a willing participant.
Toss in the characters we have involved -- we haven't even really discussed Mickelson and his opportunity on Sunday -- and the sporting event of the day might go down in Scottsdale rather than in Minneapolis.