Daniel Berger shot even-par through 15 holes to maintain the lead in the weather-interrupted Arnold Palmer Invitational on Saturday in Orlando.
Berger will carry a two-shot lead into play Sunday on the Bay Hill Club course, where he’ll have a busy day.
He’s at 13 under for the tournament, with Akshay Bhatia, his playing partner, at 11 under after finishing the 16th hole with a birdie. Bhatia is at 3 under in the third round.
“Just need to keep doing what I’m doing,” Bhatia said. “It’s fun to be in the hunt.”
Austria’s Sepp Straka shot 66 to move to 9 under, while Cameron Young’s 67 also put him at 9 under. Collin Morikawa also holds a 9-under mark after finishing with 70 by completing the final round after the horn.
Australia’s Min Woo Lee (68) finished the round at 8 under.
Berger took a five-stroke lead into the weekend. He and Bhatia have multiple holes to finish in the third round before waiting to start their final rounds.
“It’s going to be a mental challenge,” Bhatia said. “It’s going to be nice to come out, play a couple holes, and then go back, eat breakfast and then go through my routine.”
A 66-minute weather delay in the afternoon put the round off schedule.
Young said he expects movement on the leaderboard, but how that shakes out is uncertain.
“Any time you get a golf course this difficult, and this many good players within a couple shots of each other,” Young said. “After Daniel, there’s a ton of guys I think between -7 and -9. There’s so many good players, any one of them could take a really difficult golf course and make it look easy. So, I wouldn’t expect a ton of low scores (Sunday).”
Morikawa said it will be interesting to assess the top of the leaderboard after all golfers complete the third round Sunday morning. He won’t have to swing a club until later in the day.
“Just being able to wake up and sleep in, and just kind of get the day situated, it’s a huge kind of momentum thing I think for the routine, especially teeing off pretty late,” Morikawa said.
Straka liked the conditions after the delay.
“The greens were definitely a little slower, a little more receptive,” he said.
Scottie Scheffler (72), the world’s No. 1 golfer, had four consecutive birdies as part of a 5 under stretch across six holes on the backside before a double-bogey on the final hole.
“I think the rain created a little bit of friction to where your ball was more rolling I think instead of kind of skidding is how I would describe it,” Scheffler said.
Four bogeys on the front nine also were costly, so he’s at 3 under.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland withdrew prior to the third round citing a back injury. He had rounds of 72 and 68 to begin the tournament.
–Field Level Media
