It was a wild day in Mexico during the third round of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. Matthew Wolff, for the first time in his career, entered moving day as the 18- and 36-hole leader. His two-stroke advantage didn’t stand for long as he bogeyed Nos. 2 and 3 and quickly found himself a few shots back. He never rebounded and sits at 11 under, eight shots back of the leader.
The man leading the pack just so happens to be the same gentleman that lifted the trophy at Mayakoba last season, one Viktor Hovland. The Norwegian fired a bogey-free 62 on Saturday. It was a round that saw Hovland hit over 85 percent of fairways (guess that new driver is paying dividends).
“I just think with it being a narrow course helps me because my bad shots tend to not go in the trees, so if I can always stay in between the tree lines, I can kind of hit a lot of approaches on the greens because they are soft, and if I hit good iron shots and they land on the pin, they’re going to stop on the pin,” Hovland said regarding the big stick.
“My kind of shot pattern with the driver, my misses tend to leak a little bit right, so with the wind being off the right, that kind of gave me a little bit of a cushion.”
If he’s able to hold on, Hovland would claim his third PGA Tour victory (and still none of them would have been won in the 50 states).
Talor Gooch outdid his Thursday 64 with a Saturday 63 thanks to six birdies and an eagle on the par-5 13th. Gooch has made just three bogeys all week, as he’s put little stress on his short game hitting nearly 80 percent of greens thus far.
“I’ve been in the final group a few times and it’s always — I mean, it’s what you play golf for,” Gooch said when asked about playing with Hovland and Justin Thomas in the final round. “This is at the highest level in the final group on Sunday and to do it with two of the best players in the world right now, two Ryder Cuppers, that’s what it’s about.”
He’ll tee off two shots back of Hovland on Sunday.
Justin Thomas did Justin Thomas things Saturday. He took care of the long holes on his front nine, birdieing both par 5s, then added two more circles to make the turn with a 4-under 32.
Justin Thomas of the United States and caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay line up a putt on the sixth green during the third round of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba on El Camaleon golf course on November 06, 2021, in Playa del Carmen. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
He then played Nos. 11-14 in 3 under to get to 7 under on the day. Four straight pars coming in would solidify his bogey-free effort Saturday and he will enter the final round three shots back.
“I just did everything pretty well. I’m not doing anything great, I’m not doing anything bad, I’m cleaning up nicely on the greens,” Thomas said, as he continues to try and improve with the flat-stick. “I feel like my speed on my lag putting, it’s not very good this week. I’ve had a couple really sloppy three-putts and had a couple nice saves today to prevent that again.”
Joaquin Niemann got on an absolute heater Saturday, playing Nos. 4-11 in 7 under which included an eagle on the par-5 seventh. However, he cooled off quickly and played the remainder of his round 3 over, putting a damper on his chances.
His 4-under round on moving day has Niemann at 11 under total and eight shots back heading into Sunday.
Other names in the mix
Carlos Ortiz (14 under, 4th)
Sergio Garcia (13 under, T-5)
Aaron Wise (12 under, T-7)
Scottie Scheffler (12 under, T-7)