Sweden’s Robert Karlsson takes a slender lead into the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
Karlsson took a three-shot lead into Saturday’s third round but two late bogeys proved costly as he only just managed to stay ahead of American Harrison Frazar on 11-under.
The 41-year-old said afterwards: “I hit poor shot on 17 and on 18 I pushed my driver.
“I’m still very happy. I played well here last year so I’m looking forward to (the last round on Sunday).”
Karlsson started well enough with three birdies on the front nine – at the par-five third, par-three fourth and par-four sixth – and looked set to take a healthy lead into Sunday after making another at the par-four 15th. However, he slipped up with bogeys at the par-four 17th and 18th, finishing the day two-under, and that allowed Frazar to gain ground thanks to a late surge.
Frazar shot four birdies and one bogey through his first 10 holes of the day, but it was in the final four holes that he hit a hot-streak and he rode it to second place on 10-under. The 39-year-old Texan birdied the par-four 15th and par-five 16th before picking up another shot at the par-four 18th to shoot a six-under-par 64 on the day.
A further shot back is John Merrick following a third-round 67, while Retief Goosen played himself into contention at seven-under after shooting four successive birdies late on in a six-under-par 64. Just behind them on six-under is Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson (68) and American rookie Keegan Bradley (70).
Defending champion Lee Westwood will not be heading into next week’s US Open on the back of a victory after another disappointing day in Memphis, Tennessee. The world number two once again struggled to find consistency as he shot four birdies and three bogeys to improve to two-under, well off the pace, with 18 holes remaining.
