CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (AP) — Keegan Bradley finished with an 8-foot birdie putt, his eighth birdie of a round that only gave him a 2-under 70 on Saturday on a day where Castle Pines took more than it gave and created plenty of possibilities in the BMW Championship.
Adam Scott hit one tee shot out-of-bounds and another in the water after just three holes and had to rally at the end to limit the damage to a 74, leaving him only one shot behind.
Ludvig Aberg began his day with a nose bleed in high altitude. He wiped off the blood and drained a 50-foot birdie putt at the start. The super Swede went from a four-shot deficit to a three-shot lead after just five holes. He had four birdies and an eagle and could only manage a 71, leaving him two shots back.
He was tied with fellow Swede Alex Noren, was who six shots behind at one point and closed with three straight birdies, the last one from 35 feet across the 18th green for a 70.
Most telling about this wind-blown day in mile-high air was Xander Schauffele. When told Friday how unusual it was not to see his or Scottie Scheffler’s name among the top 20 on the leaderboard, Schauffele smiled and said, “Give it another day. One of us will be there.”
It turned out to be him. He started the weekend 11 shots behind. He had a 67 — despite a double bogey on his card — and goes into Sunday four shots behind.
Bradley, the newly appointed Ryder Cup captain for the 2025 matches, was at 12-under 204. He still has one more round to hold off five players, which includes Denver native and former U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark.
“I played some brilliant golf but I hit also some terrible shots, too. I guess that’s the way of the world,” Bradley said. “But I’m proud of the way I fought there in the end.”
Still not secure — for Bradley, Scott and Noren — is a trip to East Lake next week for the Tour Championship. The top 30 advance to the FedEx Cup finale with at least some chance at the $25 million prize.
Bradley, Scott and Noren were all outside the top 40 going to Castle Pines. Bradley was the last man to get in the 50-man field for the BMW Championship. A victory would put him at No. 4. But if falls too far behind, he could be out of the top 30.
Scott and Noren aren’t out of the woods yet, either.
All of them are thinking more about the trophies at stake Sunday — one from the BMW Championship, one from the Western Golf Association, which has been running this elite tournament for 125 years.
Scott had a three-shot lead to start the third round and it was gone quickly. He sent his opening tee shot well to the right, over threes and beyond the white out-of-bounds posts. He had to scramble for a bogey.
Two holes later, he took an aggressive line off the tee and was a few yards left of where he needed to be. He could see the ball splash in the pond from the tee, and a three-putt from 20 feet added to a double bogey. A bogey from the bunker on the next hole followed, and the Australian was reeling.
He didn’t make a birdie until the 11th hole, and he hit another tee shot out-of-bounds on the par-5 14th where he again scrambled for a bogey. All that and he still was only one behind and in the final group.
“I kind of felt like I made a meal of that, and I didn’t feel like I did that much wrong — a couple of drives were just not quite right, and a three-putt, and all of a sudden I’m kind of chasing,” Scott said. “I’m in a good spot in the end of it to be one back.”
Bradley had only four pars, the last one on No. 10. He went from three straight bogeys to two straight birdies, a bogey from short of the green at the par-3 16th and two closing bogeys.
The 48 players — Hideki Matsuyama withdrew Friday, Robert MacIntyre on Saturday, both citing lower back issues — combined to make 22 double bogeys, two triple bogeys and one quadruple bogey in gusts that never really relented.
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