Adam Scott keeps his hopes alive with Bermuda birdie blitz
Adam Scott demonstrated an uncanny knack for reading the greens and sinking long putts. Photo: Getty
A series of miracle putts has kept Australian golfer Adam Scott in the running to claim the PGA Tour’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship.
Scott rolled in a 40-foot putt on the par-3 16th, birdied the 17th and then made a 25-foot putt at the end to finish his string of birdies.
Those three straight birdies lifted him to 15 under and tied for sixth place on the leaderboard, four shots behind leader Alex Noren of Sweden, who posted a 67.
The 43-year-old Australian former world No.1 is chasing a 15th PGA Tour win and his first since the 2020 Genesis Invitational.
Noren has a maiden PGA Tour title in his sights after getting up-and-down on his last two holes to take a one shot lead from Colombia’s Camilo Villegas (65) into the final round.
Noren will also be going for his first worldwide win since the French Open in 2018, the year he played in the Ryder Cup. He has played his last 40 holes without a bogey.
“This is what you dream of, having a chance to win and being up in the final group on a Saturday, Sunday. I really enjoyed it today,” Noren said.
American Ryan Moore (67) and Germany’s Matti Schmid (65) are tied third, two shots behind Noren with 50-year-old Stewart Cink (66, 16 under) the other player ahead of Scott.
For a week like this, when the wind is manageable and Port Royal is the shortest course on the PGA Tour, plenty of birdies are required to keep pace.
“Tomorrow is going to be a lot of guys chasing, so there’s going to be some low scores,” Noren said.
The three closest pursuers came into the Bermuda Championship trying to secure full PGA Tour cards for next year.
Villegas was at No. 223 until a runner-up finish in Mexico last week that got him inside the top 150, and now he is in range of moving into the top 125. The PGA Tour season ends next week.
“Three days, one more, got to keep doing the same thing and we’ll see what happens,” he said.
Moore was at No. 140 and Schmid was at No. 148.
“It’s huge for me in my position,” Schmid said. “I think I’m 148 on the FedEx list right now. Need to keep doing my thing and need one more good finish.”
-with AAP
