John Rahm birdied No. 18 on Saturday, staking him to a three-shot lead entering the final round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.
Rahm had six birdies as he shot a 65 and posted the only bogey-free round of the day. He also shot 65 on Thursday and 68 on Friday to stand at 15-under par 198.
“Really proud of today, heck of a round of golf,” the Spaniard said. “Took advantage of a couple good lies in the rough and made every putt that I needed to keep the round going, highlighted by the one on 13 (for par).”
In second place is second-round leader Max Homa, whose 69 on Saturday moved him to 12 under. Standing alone in third place is Keith Mitchell (69) at 11 under. Another shot back in fourth place is Patrick Cantlay (68), with Gary Woodland (67) in fifth place at 9 under.
Also firing a 67 on Saturday was Tiger Woods, who stood on the cut line after the second round and is now in a pack of seven players tied for 26th at 3 under for the tournament.
It was two years ago, the day after the Genesis, that Woods sustained serious injuries to his right leg in a single-car crash. This is his first PGA Tour appearance since the Open Championship last July. While he said he still needs to work on his putting, he generally was content after shooting a 74 on Saturday.
“Today was better. I felt like I made some nice adjustments with my putting and that was the thing that held me back yesterday,” he said. “I’ve driven it well the last three days, my iron play has been good. And the firm conditions I like. That’s kind of right up my alley with iron play. Just wish I could have putted a little bit better yesterday. I made a few adjustments today and some of the putts went in.”
Homa was paired with Rahm and Mitchell on Saturday, and he’ll go head-to-head with Rahm on Sunday. Homa and Rahm agreed they are motivated by each other, and Homa said he’s looking forward to another go-round with Rahm.
Rahm has two wins and five top 10 finishes on the season.
“Chasing down the hottest golfer on the planet, it’s an exciting opportunity. Final group at Riviera, it’s awesome,” said Homa, who is from the Los Angeles area. “Today was a really fun day of golf. Yeah, I relish it. It’s exciting. It’s an opportunity, and I think in this life it’s just about opportunities, getting them and then when you have them, take advantage. So I’m excited to test myself with that.”
And Rahm, who finished third at the Phoenix Open last week, said he is taking nothing for granted, despite the three-stroke lead.
“Somebody’s going to come out tomorrow and somebody’s going to shoot a round of 4, 5, 6, 7 under,” he said. “It happens every single tournament we play in, right? So I have to be aware that somebody’s going to make a run and I’m going to have to shoot a 60s round for sure to give myself a chance to win as well. Just aware that I need to keep doing what I’ve been doing until now.”
–Field Level Media
