Jun 13, 2020; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Patrick Reed reacts on the 12th fairway during the third round of the Charles Schwab Challenge golf tournament at Colonial Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports
(Reuters) – Former Masters champion Patrick Reed used a hot putter to tie his PGA Tour career-low round and grab the early clubhouse lead at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Forth Worth, Texas on Saturday.
Reed began the third round at Colonial Country Club with three consecutive birdies, added three more on the trot starting at the ninth and closed with another at 18 for a bogey-free, seven-under par 63 to reach 10 under for the week.
“Coming into today, I just felt like I did a lot of things solid the first two days, but I just made too many careless mistakes, so I was trying to clean that up today, and I felt like I did a good job on that and just gave myself a chance with my putter,” said Reed.
Three-times major champion Jordan Spieth mixed four birdies with a bogey to sit at 13 under for the week and one shot clear of a chasing pack on a tightly-contested leaderboard after nine holes.
Overnight leader Harold Varner III birdied the first hole and reached the turn one shot back of playing partner Spieth at the fan-free course, one of several safety measures in place as the PGA Tour returns from a three-month COVID-19 hiatus.
Britain’s Justin Rose and Gary Woodland were each a further shot back after 11 holes, while world number one Rory McIlroy, was one over through 10 holes and eight under for the week.
Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Pritha Sarkar