Northern Trust Open: Round three preview

Many players will have the opportunity to rocket up the leaderboard on moving day.  The course is yielding good scores, and a five or six-under par round will place you in contention for Sunday’s final round.

So who has the ability to leapfrog into the top 10 by day’s end? Kevin Streelman, Bubba Watson, and Billy Hurley III are on the course now.  Watson and Streelman are one-under thru two holes (two-under total), and Hurley is even thru two (one-under total).

Ian Poulter is at even-par, and used his Twitter account to guarantee a good round:

Will the 36-hole leader, Sang-Moon Bae, extend his lead at nine-under par?  Bae led after 36-holes last year, and finished T-8.  He won for the first time at the 2013 HP Byron Nelson, so I believe he has a good chance of holding the lead, unless one of the guys behind him goes low.

There is a lot of firepower in the final groups.  Robert Garrigus is one shot back at eight-under.  Garrigus is happy the course is playing firm because he is hitting the ball long and straight, and has short clubs coming into the greens.

Aaron Baddeley is tied with Garrigus, and his last win was at the Northern Trust in 2011.  Former winners know how to get it done.

Charlie Beljan lost in a playoff last year, and sits alone in fourth place at seven-under.

Jim Furyk and Dustin Johnson are lurking four shots back of Bae at six-under.  Furyk had a great season last year, but failed to win, and DJ has been a winner since he joined the Tour in 2008 (eight wins total).

Too many good players are in the mix for me to pick a winner.  Don’t forget Jimmy Walker, Jordan Spieth, and Keegan Bradley are at four-under (T14).

TV: 1-2:30 pm ET on the Golf Channel, and 3-6 pm ET on CBS.

Link to leaderboard.