Garcia on course for back-to-back victories in USA

Published on 26/08/2012 04:27

Spain’s Sergio Garcia moved two shots clear with a round to play at The Barclays in Farmingdale as he chased back-to-back titles on the PGA Tour.

The 32-year-old won last week’s Wyndham Championships to book himself in for Ryder Cup duty at Medinah next month.

And he has carried momentum from that success into this week, with a third sub-70 round giving him an outstanding chance of victory in New York today.

Garcia followed rounds of 66 and 68 with one of 69, which took him two ahead of halfway leader Nick Watney and three clear of Watney’s fellow American Kevin Stadler, whose six-under-par 65 was the lowest score of the day.

Brandt Snedeker and Bob Estes are tied for fourth at six under, then comes an eight-player group on four under which includes Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Woods three-putted four times for the first time in his PGA Tour career and had a 72 that left him six shots behind. Also six behind was Mickelson, who played in the morning and had a 67.

“Trust me, I was certainly frustrated,” Woods said. “I kept telling myself I’m right in the ballgame and no one was going anywhere. Nobody was running away with it.”

Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen both had rounds of 68 to join the eight-player bunch on four under. Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald both nudged up to two under after posting rounds of 69, while Vijay Singh was alongside them on the same score after a 76 undid his fine efforts on Thursday and Friday.

Padraig Harrington saw his hopes of a Ryder Cup spot all but disappear with a second successive round of 75. The Irishman had been told by European captain Jose Maria Olazabal that he needed to win The Barclays to have a chance of claiming a wild card. That looked possible after Harrington’s opening 64 but he is now 11 strokes off the lead.