MEXICO CITY, Feb 23: Justin Thomas was perched on the top with a six-under 65 at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship that put him in an ideal position for his third win of the season.
While Thomas was 15-under 198, six players were within four shots of the lead. That group included Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau, both of whom lost ground, one more than other.
But Thomas knows that a one-shot lead at the Chapultepec Golf Club means nothing. Thomas was five shots behind while playing the par-5 sixth hole and by the time he finished 15thhe was three shots ahead. Thomas shot 65 with bogeys at the start and finish of his round and there were eight birdies in between.
Patrick Reed also bogeyed the 18th hole for a 67 that cost him a share of the lead, while Erik van Rooyen of South Africa chipped in for the fourth time this week and posted a 67. They were one shot behind Thomas.
Jon Rahm started the third round 10 shots off the lead and wound up in the penultimate group, four shots behind.
He opened with six birdies in seven holes and bogeyed the eighth. Then h e birdied 10th, 13thand 15thand made a hole-in-one on the 17th. His 61 broke the course record and his own record as a pro.
McIlroy was one shot behind. His standout shot was on par-4 12th, where his drive in thin air went 410 yards came to 30 feet. But he missed a 6-foot par putt on the 14th and didn’t make a birdie coming in. That gave him a 68.
DeChambeau led by three early in the round and still was tied on the back nine when he made three bogeys over the last five holes including a three-putt on the par-5 15th. He finished with 71 and was Tied-fourth.
It is Thomas’ second career 54-hole lead at Club de Golf Chapultepec and he is looking for a third win this season, while Reed is attempting to win his second WGC-Mexico Championship title
Erik van Rooyen can become the second South African to win a World Golf Championships title and eighth to make their first PGA TOUR victory a World Golf Championships event.
McIlroy finds birdies hard to get as De Chambeau zooms to top in Mexico
Rory rises above all in the thin air in Mexico, leads WGC-Mexico
