Keith Mitchell carded a third-round 67 at the Quail Hollow Club and will enter Sunday’s finale of the Wells Fargo Championship with a two-shot lead.
Entering the day two off the lead, Mitchell got off to a somewhat sluggish start with six straight pars, but beginning on the par-5 7th hole, the 29-year old from Tennessee reeled off three birdies in a four-hole stretch (Nos. 7, 9, and 10) to move into the conversation. He then added two more gains on Nos. 14 and 16 to secure sole possession of the pole position on 9-under par.
“All of it,” said Mitchell, when asked what part of his game is working this week. “I just feel like everything’s really working.
“My driver feels great, and around this place you’ve really got to drive it well, so I’m sure the stats would say that.
“Really all of it feels good right now. Really just trying to keep the ball in front of me right now and see what we can do tomorrow.”
Woodland, the overnight co-leader, was up and down for much of the day, offsetting three birdies with three bogeys through 16 holes, but a birdie on the par-3 17th got him into the red for the day at 1 under, and into a share of the silver spot alongside Rory McIlroy at 7 under.
“Yeah, it was tough. The golf course, the greens were firming up a little bit and picking up speed, especially with the wind,” said Woodland. “So for me, like I said, the ball-striking’s been coming this week, I just haven’t drove it well, and today I drove it very well.
“I hit a couple bad shots, but all in all I controlled the golf ball the way I wanted to and I’m excited about that. It sets up well for me tomorrow.
McIlroy, meanwhile, appeared to be running away with it after four birdies on his first eight holes, but a double on the 12th allowed the chasing pack to catch up. The slumping star continued to tread water with par saves on 13 and 14, but then caught a lucky break on 15 which led to a birdie and a score of 3-under 68.
At 7 under, the controversial Northern Irishman will join Mitchell in Sunday’s final pairing.
Luke List was then next, after a 68 got him to 6 under, one clear of Satoshi Kodaira (68) and Scott Stallings (70).
Six more players were tied for seventh on 4 under, including Jason Dufner (67), Viktor Hovland (68), Kyle Stanley (68), Patrick Reed (69), Abraham Ancer (70) and Matt Wallace (73).
2021 Wells Fargo Championship
Wells Fargo Top 5: Round 3
Pos-Player-To Par (Rd 3)
1. Keith Mitchell -9 (-5)
2. Rory McIlroy -7 (-3)
2. Gary Woodland -7 (-1)
4. Luke List -6 (-3)
5. Satoshi Kodaira -5 (-3)
5. Scott Stallings -5 (-1)
Material from the PGA Tour Communications was used to compile this report.
