David Toms put the pedal down Saturday, carding a bogey-free 9-under 63 to take control of the Chubb Classic at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla.
Toms heads into the final round at 14-under 130, three clear of Australia’s Michael Wright, who stayed in the mix with a 4-under 68 to reach 11 under for the tournament.
“Any time you make nine birdies, you obviously rolled the ball well,” Toms said after the round. “That was the key today. Speed was good on the greens. Once you don’t really have to think about the speed, if you can just think about the line and the speed come natural, that’s the way I putted today and it worked really well.”
Despite the three-stroke lead, Toms knows a win on Sunday will need another strong round, as another golfer could make a push up the leaderboard just like he did on Saturday.
“I’ll have to go out and play really good golf again,” Toms said. “I’m sure there is somebody that’s four, five shots back that will play a similar round like I did today, so you got to go out there and make it happen when you can.”
Wright could have been closer to the lead but double-bogeyed the par-4 17th before finishing his round with a birdie on 18.
“We had a little bit of an issue with Darren’s (Clarke) tee shot and I was a little bit rattled,” Wright said of his adventure on the 17th hole. “My emotions were running a little bit high standing over that shot. I unfortunately got — had a 6-iron and cut it a bit too much. I didn’t think it was as bad as it ended up being, but it ended up being just terrible. I had like a stick right behind the ball that I couldn’t move because it would’ve moved the ball.
“… Next thing you know, (I) had a 6 on the card. Really good chip to get it up and down for a 6. Could have made more. Fortunately got that up and down. Then did a good job on the last to make birdie.”
Justin Leonard and Ricardo Gonzalez of Argentina share third at 10 under after matching 68s, giving Sunday plenty of depth behind the leader.
A shot further back, Argentine Angel Cabrera and Steve Flesch are tied for fifth at 9 under, with Flesch’s round punctuated by an eagle on the closing par-5.
Not everyone held their ground. Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, who shared the first-round lead with Wright after eagling two of his last four holes, slid back to a tie for 26th at 3 under after a 76.
