Several young studs are atop the PGA Tour leaderboard. Gary Woodland has a one-shot lead.
Gary Woodland walks the fairway after his tee shot on the 14th hole during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open Saturday.(Photo: Christopher Hanewinckel, USA TODAY Sports)
SAN DIEGO -- Twenty-two players are within four shots of the lead heading into Sunday's final round of the Farmers Insurance Open.
None are named Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson.
The game's biggest stars won't be at Torrey Pines. Woods, the world's No. 1 and defending champion who has won eight times here, did not make the secondary cut Saturday after a 7-over-par 79. Mickelson didn't even make it to Saturday's third round after withdrawing Friday night with a bad back.
While the star power has diminished, a shootout is likely to develop on the rugged South Course at this sun-drenched seaside golf complex. Setting the pace is burly Gary Woodland, who shot a 2-under-par 70 in Saturday's third round to grab a one-shot lead over Marc Leishman (72) and reigning PGA Tour rookie of the year Jordan Spieth (75).
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Two shots back are Pat Perez (72) and Morgan Hoffman (72). Seven players are in a group three shots back at 5 under, including Ryo Ishikawa (69). And 10 players are at 4 under, including Jason Day (73) and Keegan Bradley (71).
The chief player, however, will be the South Course, which played to a stroke average of 73.73 on Saturday. The course's difficulties – high rough, pitched, firm greens and thin fairways – have players on edge.
"I don't think you have to worry about somebody going super low," said Woodland, who turned his year around in 2013 when he got healthy following wrist problems and enlisted the help of sports psychologist Julie Elion.
"The golf course isn't giving up that right now, but you could definitely have someone shoot 3-, 4-, 5-under. ... If I drive the ball in play, I have a lot of chances to make birdie. The par-5s I can get to all in two. Today I drove the ball beautifully on the par-5s and I parred them all. I knocked it on the green twice and three-putted two of them.
"There are some holes out there where I was playing with some other guys, I'm hitting shorter irons in than a lot guys," Woodland said. "So if I drive the ball in play, I'm playing a little different golf course than most guys are playing."
Leishman said it isn't tough to figure out the key to Sunday's final round – stay out of the rough.
"It's some of the longest and thickest rough I've seen," he said. "You get in there and you go sand iron if you can find your ball. It wouldn't surprise me if there are a few lost balls out there. It's long and it's damp, and if you try and get greedy, you can make yourself look like an idiot really quickly. ...
"I wouldn't say (the course) is unfair at all. It's tough. The greens are running fairly quick. They're getting firm, especially if you're coming from the rough or if you're coming from the fairway, but it's tough especially if you miss the fairway. If you're playing from the middle of the fairway all day, it's not too bad, you can hold the green. But if you're in the rough, it's virtually impossible."
Spieth, who began the day with a one-stroke lead after a 63 on the North Course, made two bogeys and a double-bogey in his first five holes to fall back. But the young Texan regrouped with three birdies coming in to offset two more bogeys.
Jordan Spieth hits out of the rough on the first hole during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open Saturday.(Photo: Christopher Hanewinckel, USA TODAY Sports)
"The par-5s are gettable. You just have to be in the fairway, and I guess a lot of people were struggling to hit the fairway today, including myself," Spieth said. "I only hit three of them, so that's not going to work, so I get to work on it.
"But only one shot back and a bunched-up leaderboard, so it's going to take a good score tomorrow."
Woods, who has won the Farmers seven times and the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, shot 79 and headed back to his home in Florida. He did not speak to reporters.
Mickelson, who has won three times here, tweaked his back shortly before Thursday's first round and struggled throughout his first two rounds of 69-73. He hinted after the first round that he might withdraw, saying he "didn't want to do anything stupid." He played Friday but withdrew later that night.
Mickelson hopes to defend his title next week in the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and then play the following week in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
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