Golf

2014 Northern Trust Open: William McGirt surges into the lead

William McGirt is now one round away from his first PGA Tour win after an excellent third round.

Feb 16, 2014, 2:06 AM UTC

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Northern Trust Open field is loaded with household PGA Tour names, but through three rounds, it’s a few lesser known players on top of the leaderboard. William McGirt holds the 54-hole lead at 12-under with George McNeill and Charlie Beljan tied for second place at 10-under.

McGirt got off to a good start on Saturday, with five birdies on his first six holes. He made the turn in 31 and continued to surge up the leaderboard with three birdies in his first four holes on the back nine. A late bogey dropped him to 12-under overall, but it was still good for a two-stroke advantage. McGirt has never won on the PGA Tour, although he has finished in a tie for second place twice. McNeill jumped into a tie for second with a 5-under 66, while Beljan carded a 3-under 68 for the second straight day.

If McGirt is going to secure his first PGA Tour win, he’ll have to hold off a crowded and talented leaderboard. Jordan Spieth, Charl Schwartzel, Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson are among the players tied for sixth place at 8-under. Watson turned in the round of the day, carding a 7-under 64. After running into trouble during the first two rounds -- including three double bogeys -- he was nearly flawless in the third round. He finished with seven birdies and 11 pars.

Here is a complete look at the leaderboard through three rounds:

Place	Player	Score	1st Round	2nd Round	3rd Round
1	William McGirt	-12	69	67	65
T2	George McNeill	-10	69	68	66
T2	Charlie Beljan	-10	67	68	68
T4	Jason Allred	-9	73	64	67
T4	Brian Harman	-9	67	69	68
T6	Bubba Watson	-8	70	71	64
T6	Cameron Tringale	-8	68	70	67
T6	Jimmy Walker	-8	67	71	67
T6	Jordan Spieth	-8	72	66	67
T6	Charl Schwartzel	-8	69	68	68
T6	Dustin Johnson	-8	66	70	69
T6	Sang-Moon Bae	-8	67	66	72
T13	Bill Haas	-7	72	67	67
T13	Charley Hoffman	-7	67	71	68
T13	Brendan Steele	-7	68	71	67
T13	Aaron Baddeley	-7	69	65	72
T17	Luke Guthrie	-6	71	69	67
T17	John Senden	-6	71	70	66
T17	Lee Westwood	-6	69	70	68
T17	Bryce Molder	-6	69	69	69
T17	Matt Every	-6	69	69	69
T17	Jim Furyk	-6	68	68	71
T17	Robert Garrigus	-6	67	67	73
T24	Hideki Matsuyama	-5	70	69	69
T24	K.J. Choi	-5	69	72	67
T24	Harris English	-5	70	69	69
T24	James Hahn	-5	71	72	65
T24	Blake Adams	-5	67	70	71
T29	Ken Duke	-4	71	69	69
T29	David Lingmerth	-4	70	69	70
T29	Ernie Els	-4	71	70	68
T29	Daniel Summerhays	-4	71	72	66
T33	Matt Jones	-3	67	73	70
T33	Jhonattan Vegas	-3	70	69	71
T33	Kevin Chappell	-3	71	70	69
T33	Brendon Todd	-3	71	70	69
T33	J.J. Henry	-3	70	69	71
T33	Keegan Bradley	-3	68	70	72
T33	Justin Rose	-3	70	72	68
T33	Victor Dubuisson	-3	70	72	68
T33	Stuart Appleby	-3	72	71	67
T42	David Lynn	-2	70	71	70
T42	Francesco Molinari	-2	67	73	71
T42	Robert Allenby	-2	71	69	71
T42	Angel Cabrera	-2	69	71	71
T42	Scott Stallings	-2	67	72	72
T42	Ben Crane	-2	72	70	69
T42	Geoff Ogilvy	-2	74	68	69
T42	Scott Brown	-2	70	67	74
T50	Gonzalo Fdez-Castano	-1	71	70	71
T50	Erik Compton	-1	74	67	71
T50	Kevin Stadler	-1	69	69	74
T50	Vijay Singh	-1	75	67	70
T50	Justin Leonard	-1	70	72	70
T55	Harold Varner III	E	69	72	72
T55	J.B. Holmes	E	67	71	75
T55	Ian Poulter	E	72	70	71
T55	Martin Laird	E	70	73	70
T59	Martin Flores	1	72	69	73
T59	Kevin Streelman	1	72	69	73
T59	Jason Gore	1	71	69	74
T59	Pat Perez	1	69	72	73
T59	Richard H. Lee	1	69	72	73
T59	Webb Simpson	1	70	72	72
T59	John Huh	1	71	71	72
T59	Will MacKenzie	1	73	69	72
T59	Marc Leishman	1	69	74	71
T59	Hunter Mahan	1	70	73	71
T69	Billy Hurley III	2	70	71	74
T69	Retief Goosen	2	73	69	73
T69	Davis Love III	2	71	71	73
T69	Graham DeLaet	2	70	73	72
T73	Scott Piercy	3	71	69	76
T73	Tim Wilkinson	3	71	72	73
75	Ben Curtis	4	70	73	74
T76	Jason Dufner	5	70	72	76
T76	Michael Putnam	5	71	72	75