Garcia in contention, but Watney lurks behind

Published on 27/08/2012 00:00

Sergio Garcia was on track for consecutive victories after the Spaniard took the outright lead at the Barclays tournament late on Saturday, while Tiger Woods faltered slightly but remained inside the top ten. Garcia, who won the Wyndham Championship last week, fired a two-under-par 69 to claim a two-shot cushion over Nick Watney at 10-under 203 as the greens at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York, reached treacherous speeds. Woods, who could return to the world No 1 spot with a victory, battled putting woes to post a 72, leaving him six off the pace at 209 in a tie for 10th.

He three-putted four separate greens for the first time in his PGA tour career and said: “I’ve never seen greens change like this, from what they were yesterday to today. It’s unbelievable how slippery they were. You put the putter down behind the golf ball and it was slipping on the grass”

Garcia added: “The greens are probably some of the fastest I’ve ever played. Usually when you putt on fast greens, you have an idea where the ball will stop. Today, you didn’t. You thought it was going to stop two feet behind the hole, and it went six.”