German Bernhard Langer carded a 4-under 67 on Saturday to move into the lead after three rounds of action at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix.
Langer got off to a hot start at Phoenix Country Club, picking up three birdies within his first five holes. He finished with five on the day against one bogey and sits at 13-under 200 for the tournament, one shot better than defending champion Steven Alker of New Zealand.
“Didn’t putt as well as the first two days, made a couple early on and then kind of didn’t get the pace,” Langer said. “It was a little short at times and just didn’t make as many. Played very solid, hit the ball very well, gave myself a bunch of chances and pretty happy overall.”
Alker shared low-round honors with Australia’s Richard Green by recording an 8-under 63.
Both Alker and Green put together a phenomenal showing on the front nine, with Alker pairing six birdies and three pars and Green collecting seven birdies and two pars.
“It’s just heated up,” Alker said of his putter. “I just quiet the noise a little bit and settle it down and softened up my grip a little bit. Just small things go a long way. I’ve been seeing my lines good and rolling it good.”
Green finished with nine birdies and a bogey at the par-3 13th to climb six spots up the leaderboard and into sole possession of third at 11-under 202. He is two strokes behind Langer and trailing Alker by one.
With such a tight race atop the leaderboard, Langer knows that he has to bring his A-game on Sunday.
“Well, I think I’ve got to continue to play aggressive and hit as many fairways as I possibly can and as many greens,” Langer said. “The key for me is making putts. I’ve got to try and hit 15, 16, 17 greens in regulation if I can and make a bunch of putts.”
Alex Cejka of Germany (68 on Saturday), Jerry Kelly (66) and Stewart Cink (75) are in fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Cink really struggled, ending up with five bogeys and a double bogey on his card.
Australian Rod Pampling (65) is tied for seventh with Ken Tanigawa (67), while Irishman Padraig Harrington (69) and Fiji’s Vijay Singh (70) are T9.
