In the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship, Phil Mickelson makes a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 1st hole.
NORTON, Mass. – With the final group less than an hour away from teeing off in Monday’s final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship, thus far no one has been able to put together the kind of red-hot round that Keegan Bradley did early in the third round.
Bradley went out and shot an 8-under 63 to move up the leaderboard (that 63 was matched later in the day by Louis Oosthuizen, who now has a three-stroke lead).
Of the early finishers, the lowest score is by Padraig Harrington, who shot a 4-under 67 to finish at 2 over for the tournament. Harrington is projected to 60th in FedExCup points and is safely through to next week’s BMW Championship.
The top 70 in points after Monday’s final round will advance to Crooked Stick. That’s the tournament within a tournament happening at TPC Boston.
Jonthan Byrd appears to have played his way out of the top 70. Coming into this week 69th in points, Byrd shot a final-round 75 and is projected to 81.
Rookie Harris English also is projected outside the top 70 (78th) after shooting a 3-over 74 to finish at 6 over. English entered the week 63rd in points.
Scott Stallings also may be out after shooting a 1-over 72 to finish at 5 over. He came into the week ranked 61st but is projected to 74th.
Brendon de Jonge entered this week ranked 56th and is projected to 66th after shooting a 71. He birdied his final hole – a birdie that may prove instrumental in keeping him inside the top 70.
“Obviously I knew a birdie was going to help,” de Jonge said, “but it was all out of my hands out. So I'll wait and see and watch it.”
Fred Albers explains why it's important to get through the first four holes with at least two birdies.
Amanda Balionis and the SiriusXM team preview the final round at TPC Boston.
Louis Oosthuizen leads after a 63, but Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods are right behind him.
From Elias Sports Bureau
· Louis Oosthuizen catapulted to the top of the leaderboard after a round of 63 on Sunday, which included a 29 on the front-nine. It was the twenty-ninth 29-or-better side of a PGA TOUR scorecard this year (front or back). What might be surprising to some is that more than half of those rounds (15) -- including Oosthuizen’s -- were accomplished without an eagle.
· Of the previous 29 occasions, only once did the player go on to win the tournament. Phil Mickelson shot 29 on the front-nine of his second round at the AT&T Pebble Beach event back in February, en route to winning by two shots over Charlie Wi.
· This is the 35th official stroke-play event on the TOUR that has featured both Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. However it is the first such tournament in which both players enter the final round in the top 5 on the leaderboard. In fact, there have only been three occasions in which both players were among the top 10 entering a final round together: 2011 Masters (McIlroy led after three rounds, Woods was tied for ninth), 2012 WGC- Cadillac Championship (both players were tied for eighth entering the final round), and the 2012 PGA Championship (McIlroy led after three rounds, Woods was tied for sixth).
· After lackluster results in the first and second rounds, Keegan Bradley lit it up in the third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship, posting an 8-under 63. That moved him to 6 under for the tournament. He is just the second player on TOUR this season to shoot 8 under or better in the third round after making the cut at over par. Back in March, Branden Grace was 6 over through two rounds of the WGC- Cadillac Championship. He bounced back with an 8-under 64 on Saturday en route to a tie for 35th at Doral.
Following an third-round 63, Louis Oosthuizen reflects on his play in the 2012 Deutsche Bank Championship with Doug Bell from SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio.
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
NORTON, Mass. -- Rory McIlroy didn't expect to be trailing by three shots heading into Monday's finale at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Not when he went out and shot a solid 67 on Sunday after taking a one-stroke advantage into the third round at TPC Boston.
"You think ... that you might still be in the lead going into the last day," the affable young Northern Irishman offered with a wry grin.
No argument there. But McIlroy watched first-hand as Louis Oosthuizen put on a clinic, making seven birdies in a row during one stretch on the way to a 63 that catapulted him to the top of the leaderboard to 19 under.
"I was delighted when I got the honor back on the 12th tee," McIlroy said, only half joking about that birdie barrage. "But it was great to watch. Louis is the sort of player that can do that. He's very explosive, and he didn't really put a foot wrong today.
“Very impressive round by him and very happy with my round, and very happy that I am still in touching distance going into tomorrow."
McIlroy knows what it's like to get on that kind of a roll. After all, he won the 2011 U.S. Open and the PGA Championship last month by a prodigious eight shots. That said, Oosthuizen's British Open title in 2010 came by seven strokes so he's certainly comfortable going low – and staying there.
"He didn't do a bit wrong," Oosthuizen said. "He drove it well. His iron play was fantastic and he holed the putts when he got on the green. It was great to be a part of and hopefully, he doesn't do the same thing tomorrow and gives me some sort of a chance."
When Oosthuizen finished off that birdie run with a 2-footer at the 10th hole, McIlroy actually trailed by six shots. He didn't panic, though -- closing the gap with a pair of 5-footers for birdie at the next two holes while Oosthuizen made pars.
"The birdie on 11 sort of sparked things, and I hit a couple great shots into 12, great tee shot off 13, great tee shot on 14," McIlroy said. "So that sparked me to life a little bit. If you're talking about momentum in a round, I think 11 definitely gave me some."
Granted, McIlroy gave one shot back at the 15th hole when he missed the fairway and couldn't get up and down from in front of the green. But a superb iron left him with a 4-footer for birdie at the 16th hole and he capped off the day when he two-putted from 30 feet at the par-5 18th -- a hole he's played in 4 under so far this week.
Mission, as they say, accomplished.
"Obviously you're six behind, and you can try and start pushing,
but I was still in second place, so I thought, stay patient,"
McIlroy said. “Even though this is one tournament, you're
sort of viewing these Playoffs as a whole, and you stay in second
place and you're in great position going into next week and so on.
"But as I said, I stayed patient, I made a few birdies on the
way in, and very happy only to be three behind going into
tomorrow."
NORTON, Mass. – Here are the records set by Louis Oosthuizen during his third-round 63 on Sunday at the Deutsche Bank Championship:
LOWEST FRONT-9 SCORE: Oosthuizen shot a 7-under 29. The previous low of 30 was held by nine players, most recently Ryan Moore in Friday’s first round.
MOST CONSECUTIVE BIRDIES: Oosthuizen had seven straight birdies between holes 4 and 10. The previous mark was six straight, held by Charlie Wi (Round 2, 2010) and Tiger Woods (Round 1, 2012).
LOWEST 54-HOLE SCORE: Oosthuizen (66-65-63) is at 194 (19 under). The previous low was 196 (17 under) held by Mike Weir (2008) and Jason Day (2010).
>> Here are the records tied by Oosthuizen:
LARGEST 54-HOLE LEAD: Oosthuizen leads by three strokes. Previous three-stroke leaders after the third round include Adam Scott (2003), Vijay Singh (2004) and Vijay Singh (2006).
LOWEST MIDDLE 36 HOLES: Oosthuizen’s 128 for rounds two and three ties the mark set by Ben Crane (2008).
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM
NORTON, Mass. — Sunday’s third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second event in the FedExCup Playoffs, is finished. Here’s a look at the key FedExCup moves and notes from TPC Boston.
NO. 1 WATCH: Louis Oosthuizen, who leads the Deutsche Bank Championship by three shots after a third-round 63, is projected to be the new points leader should he go on to win. Nick Watney, the current leader after his win last week at The Barclays, shot a 66 and is tied for 19th. He projects to fall to third behind Oosthuizen and Rory McIlroy.
BIGGEST MOVERS: Here are the biggest movers in the FedExCup standings after three rounds at the Deutsche Bank Championship:
| Player | Scoreboard position | FEC rank last week | FEC rank after Rd. 3 | Movement |
| Bryce Molder | T-5th | 93 | 37 | +56 |
| Charley Hoffman | T-7th | 86 | 42 | +44 |
| Jeff Overton | T-9th | 83 | 46 | +37 |
| D.A. Points | T-9th | 72 | 43 | +29 |
| David Hearn | T-9th | 67 | 38 | +29 |
BUBBLE WATCH: Brian Davis was the bubble boy at the the start of the week. He missed the cut, though, and is currently projected at No. 86 so he could be officially eliminated on Monday. Currently projected in the 70th spot is Josh Teater, who started the week ranked 64th and is tied for 50th on the scoreboard after shooting his third consecutive even-par 71.
TOP-FIVE WATCH: The newcomer to the top five is Louis Oosthuizen, who has jumped 20 spots to No. 1 in the projections. The other four players projected in the top five after Sunday – Rory McIlroy, Nick Watney, Tiger Woods and Brandt Snedeker – are projected to stay inside the top five.
MOVING IN/FALLING OUT: Only the top 70 in FedExCup points will advance to next week’s BMW Championship at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind. Here’s a look at the players outside the top 70 who are projected inside and the players who fell outside after the third round at TPC Boston.
| Moving in | Movement | Falling out | Movement |
| Bryce Molder | 93 to 37 | Brendon de Jonge | 56 to 71 |
| Charley Hoffman | 86 to 42 | John Rollins | 58 to 73* |
| D.A. Points | 72 to 43 | Ken Duke | 60 to 75* |
| Jeff Overton | 83 to 46 | Harris English | 63 to 76 |
| Matt Every | 75 to 53 | Scott Stallings | 61 to 77 |
| Chris Kirk | 81 to 61 | Jonathan Byrd | 69 to 83 |
| Troy Matteson | 78 to 64 | Spencer Levin | 66 to 84* |
| Ted Potter Jr. | 84 to 66 | Charles Howell III | 68 to 85* |
| Charl Schwartzel | 71 to 68 | Brian Davis | 70 to 86* |
* – Players who missed the cut and will be unable to add more FedExCup points to their total. They are not officially eliminated but must hope that others fall back in order to have any chance to maintain their spots inside the top 70.
ODDS & ENDS: Jim Furyk, the 2010 FedExCup champion, entered the week ranked 25th in points. After shooting a 6-under 65 on Sunday, he moved to 21st in the projections. “It was nice to see some putts go in today,” Furyk said. “Took some stress of the rest of my game.” ...
Likewise, Vijay Singh, the 2008 FedExCup champion, did himself a huge favor by shooting a 3-under 68 on Sunday. Singh entered this week ranked 59th in points, and shouldn’t have to sweat out staying inside the top 70. ...
Sean O’Hair, who made the cut on the number Saturday with an eagle on his final hole, still needs to make up one more stroke in the final round after shooting a 69. O’Hair is currently projected at 74, which is where he started the week. …
Scott Stallings, who entered 61st in FedExCup points, was hoping to make a move on Sunday to solidify his spot inside the top 70. Instead he a 3-over 74 and is tied for 72nd on the leaderboard. He’s now projected to fall to 77. The other three players still playing who have fallen out of the top 70 – Brendon de Jonge, Harris English and jonathan Byrd – each shot 73. …
Jason Day came in ranked 88th but his chances of advancing may have disappeared with a quintuple bogey at the par-4 12th hole. Day was a bogey-free 1 under on his round going into the hole but found all kinds of trouble around the green. Initially he was credited with a quadruple bogey, but the score changed once he reached the scoring trailer. Day did bounce back with three birdies in his last six holes, but still needs to make up 4 strokes on the final day.
OFFICIALLY ELIMINATED: Here are the players who were officially eliminated after failing to make the cut on Saturday: Ricky Barnes, Rory Sabbatini, K.J. Choi, Greg Owen, Michael Thompson, Cameron Tringale.