Ancer ties course record, grabs piece of Quicken Loans lead

Mexico’s Abraham Ancer tied the course record with an 8-under-par 62 on Saturday, and he shares the Quicken Loans National lead with Italy’s Francesco Molinari.

Both are at 13-under 197 after the third round, played in hot and humid conditions at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in Potomac, Md., about 10 miles northwest of the nation’s capital.

Molinari birdied the 17th and 18th holes to finish with a 65. The pair, neither of whom has won on the PGA Tour, will sleep on a two-shot advantage.

Zac Blair (third-round 66) and second-round co-leader Ryan Armour (68) are tied for third at 11 under. Andrew Landry shot a 65 on Saturday, and he sits in fifth at 10 under with Kevin Streelman (67) alone in sixth another shot back.

South Korea’s C.T. Pan (68), Troy Merritt (66) and second-round co-leader Beau Hossler (71) are tied for seventh at 8 under.

Molinari, a veteran Ryder Cup player who has five wins on the European Tour — including last month’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in England — is rated 17th in the Official World Golf Rankings. He skipped this week’s event in France to play on the PGA Tour.

“It wasn’t easy for me to skip France — it’s one of my favorite events,” the 35-year-old Turin native said afterward. “I just needed some FedEx (Cup standings) points, and so far, so good.

“It’s always a little bit harder for Europeans to win over here. It takes some time to get used to things, and you have to play more aggressively over here, and keep your foot on the gas and make as many birdies as possible. It will be key to hit fairways and greens tomorrow and stay in the moment as much as possible and hit good shots.”

Ancer’s third-round performance was also his career-low round, giving him his career-best 54-hole score (197). He found the green in regulation on 15 of 18 holes on Saturday and did not have a bogey on his scorecard.

“I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens today, and out here on this type of golf course, that’s pretty awesome,” Ancer said. “I gave myself a couple of looks (to make putts) and I made a few of them. You have to hit the ball well here to score and there’s no way around it. I like golf courses that make you hit good shots.”

Ancer was born in McAllen, Texas, raised in Reynosa, Mexico, and has dual American and Mexican citizenship. He played college golf at Odessa College in Texas, where he was a junior college All-American, and at the University of Oklahoma.

Ancer won once on the Web.com Tour in 2015 and earned his PGA Tour card for the second time after finishing in third place on the regular-season money list on that developmental tour in 2017. He has two top-10 finishes this year on the PGA Tour — a tie for eighth at the Houston Open and a tie for ninth at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Mexico.

“I will draw back to the success I had when I was on the Web.com Tour and just play my game,” Ancer said.

Tournament host Tiger Woods is among those in a pack of six players tied for 10th at 7 under par, six strokes off Ancer and Molinari’s lead. Woods fashioned a 68 on Saturday that was highlighted by a stretch of four straight birdies on holes 4-7 and dragged down by bogeys on the 13th and 18th holes.

“It was frustrating — I played better than the score indicates,” Woods said. “I thought 10 under would be a good score. I putted well early, missed some on the back nine, but the putts I missed were on the high side.”

Thirty-five of the 74 players broke par on Saturday on a day ripe for scoring. It will take a low number on Sunday to get a victory, especially with a forecast of searing heat that will force a heavy watering of the putting surfaces to assure they don’t get too dry by the end of play.

–Field Level Media