Martin Laird Logs 6-Under 65, Takes Three-Shot Lead Into Sunday

The story of Saturday’s Barclays action was undoubtedly Scotland’s Martin Laird, who raced to the top of the leaderboard with a scintillating 65. Laird made birdie on four consecutive holes (2-5), and pushed his bogey-free streak to 34 holes with solid play on the back nine.

Meanwhile, Jason Day--the leader coming into today’s action, had a largely unimpressive Saturday, going only -1 and watching his advantage evaporate. Day’s, er, day was spoiled by a +1 back nine that included three bogeys (and one on the ninth hole, just for good measure). Day’s play off the tee undermined solid putting, and he’ll need to start hitting fairways with some regularity if he wants to contend tomorrow.

The leaderboard setup should seem familiar to Dustin Johnson, who’s tied with Day in second place at -9. During last week’s US Open, Johnson also went into the final day of play tied for second place while three shots back. Leader Nick Watney completely imploded during the final round; will Laird follow suit this week? Also, will Johnson ground his club in a sand trap on the 18th with a playoff on the line? (No.)

The disappointment of the day was Tiger Woods, whose first-hole triple submarined his chances at contention before they started. Woods did birdie three of the last six holes, which is enough for us to ask: is Tiger back???? (Also no.)