Stenson stays bogey-free

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bruced
March 22, 2015

Henrik Stenson stayed bogey free to open a two-shot lead at the summit of the leaderboard in the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Saturday.

Stenson shot birdies on the sixth, ninth and 15th holes, before an eagle on the 16th and finished on a high with another birdie on the 18th.

With scores of 68 and 66 posted in the first two rounds, Saturday’s six-under 66 brought the Swede’s total to 16-under.

“Today was, all in all, a better played round than Friday even though the result was the same,” Stenson told the PGA Tour website.

“I felt like I hit better shots and striking has been good this week, which has been a little off the previous two weeks.”

Stenson also admitted that he has been unable to avoid thinking about the Masters, which is just over two weeks away.

“Augusta is definitely in the back of my mind. I got a few things I’m kind of working on towards Augusta but still we’re here now and playing the final round and I’m going to try my hardest to do a good job and try and close out this golf tournament to win here.”

Trailing Stenson by two shots is American Morgan Hoffman, who shot two bogeys and three birdies to card a one-under 71.

Hoffman’s compatriots Jason Kokrak, Ben Martin and defending champion Matt Every are tied for third with New Zealand’s Matt Jones on 13-under. Kokrak shot a 65, Martin a 68, Every a 69 and Jones shot 67.

Meanwhile, world number one Rory McIlroy is tied for 12th on nine-under, after shooting a 71 on Saturday.

The Northern Irishman looked to be returning to his best after a 66 on Friday, but three consecutive bogeys between the 14th and 16th holes in round three saw his slump continue.

“There were parts of the round that were good. I have to concentrate on that and focus on the positives and try and take those into Sunday,” he said.

“There are times when I’m really comfortable and then times that I’m still not too comfortable so it’s highlighted a couple of different things. But for the most part I’ve got what I wanted out of it.”