NORTON, Mass. — Sergio Garcia started with the lead in the Deutsche Bank Championship and shot 65. And he needed just about every birdie.
On a TPC Boston softened by so much rain yesterday’s third round had to be started over, Garcia kept his nose in front and gave himself a two-shot cushion with a birdie on the final hole as darkness settled over New England.
Nothing is close to being settled at this FedEx Cup playoff event.
Garcia was at 19-under 194 and had a two-shot lead over Henrik Stenson, perhaps the hottest player in golf with two runner-up finishes and two third-place finishes in his last five events. The Swede went birdie-for-birdie with Garcia for much of the overcast day until a three-putt bogey on the 17th caused him to settle for a 66.
Graham DeLaet of Canada all but locked up a spot on the Presidents Cup team with a 62 that left him three shots behind with Steve Stricker, who had a 63 and took a big step toward making the U.S. team for the matches next month at Muirfield Village.
PGA champion Jason Dufner had a share of the lead until cooling off on the back nine. He had a 66 and was tied for fifth at 15-under 198 with Robert Castro (68).
About the only ones who couldn’t keep up were the star attractions at the start of the week — Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
Mickelson, who started the third round five shots out of the lead, had his second straight 71, and this one wasn’t exciting at all. He had three birdies, three bogeys, 12 pars and wound up 12 shots behind.
Woods didn’t get anything going early and fell apart on the back nine, starting with a tee shot into a hazard well right of the 10th fairway. He began the back nine with three straight bogeys and ended with a three-putt par on the 18th for a 1-over 72. It ended six straight rounds in the 60s in the FedEx Cup playoffs, and much worse, left him with no chance of winning going into the off week. He was 13 shots back.
“I just didn’t have it today,” Woods said. “I just didn’t hit it well. I didn’t make anything. I had a bad day at the wrong time.”
The average score was 68.2, and anything higher than that meant losing ground.