Golf

The Memorial Tournament 2014: Bubba Watson moves to the top of the leaderboard

Bubba Watson is on top heading into the final round of the Memorial Tournament, but he doesn’t lead by much.

May 31, 2014, 10:24 PM UTC

Sam Greenwood

The front nine at Muirfield Village has been very kind to Bubba Watson this week, and that trend continued on Saturday. He carded five early birdies on his round, on the way to a 3-under round of 69. Watson moved to 12-under overall, one stroke ahead of the field.

It’s been a tale of two nines for Watson this week. He made the turn in 32 on Saturday, the second time he’s shot a 32 on the opening nine. Watson has struggled some on the closing nine holes, playing the back nine at just 1-under for the week. Yet he’ll enter the final round double-digits in the red thanks to a dominating performance on the front nine, which he’s played at 11-under through the first three rounds. His five front-nine birdies give him 13 birdies on the front this week, to go along with just two bogeys.

Watson nearly had a bigger lead through 54-holes, but had some issues finishing off the round, carding a bogey at No. 18. He nearly dropped an extra shot on the final hole due to a penalty, when it appeared his club touched the ball, causing it to move.

Bubba Watson's putt on 18 - https://t.co/bbYVV4xaDM
— Eye on Golf (@EyeOnGolf) May 31, 2014

Officials reviewed the chip and determined there was no violation, according to Rex Hoggard of Golf Channel.

Several players are within striking distance heading into the final round, including No. 1 player in the world, Adam Scott. Scott carded a 4-under 68 on Saturday and is three strokes off the lead at 9-under. Jordan Spieth at 8-under is also in contention. Rory McIlroy rebounded from his 78 on Friday to shoot a 69 on Saturday. He is 6-under for the tournament, tied for 14th place.

Here is a complete look at the leaderboard through 54 holes:

Place	Player	Score	1st Round	2nd Round	3rd Round
1	Bubba Watson	-12	66	69	69
2	Scott Langley	-11	72	66	67
3	Hideki Matsuyama	-10	70	67	69
4	Adam Scott	-9	69	70	68
T5	Charl Schwartzel	-8	72	69	67
T5	Jordan Spieth	-8	69	72	67
T5	Billy Horschel	-8	71	69	68
T5	Robert Streb	-8	72	67	69
T5	Brendon Todd	-8	71	68	69
T5	Paul Casey	-8	66	66	76
T11	Ben Martin	-7	72	72	65
T11	Andrew Svoboda	-7	72	69	68
T11	Ben Curtis	-7	69	71	69
T14	Bo Van Pelt	-6	72	72	66
T14	Luke Guthrie	-6	75	69	66
T14	Rory McIlroy	-6	63	78	69
T14	Scott Brown	-6	70	69	71
T14	Ryan Moore	-6	68	70	72
T14	Chris Kirk	-6	66	70	74
T20	Kevin Stadler	-5	72	71	68
T20	Justin Leonard	-5	68	75	68
T20	Ernie Els	-5	70	72	69
T20	Brendon de Jonge	-5	73	69	69
T20	Steve Stricker	-5	71	70	70
T20	Jason Day	-5	72	69	70
T20	Kevin Na	-5	72	69	70
T20	Jason Dufner	-5	71	69	71
T20	Justin Hicks	-5	73	67	71
T20	Camilo Villegas	-5	71	68	72
T20	Hunter Mahan	-5	68	70	73
T31	Daniel Summerhays	-4	74	70	68
T31	Matt Kuchar	-4	74	69	69
T31	Keegan Bradley	-4	67	75	70
T31	Robert Garrigus	-4	72	70	70
T31	Bill Haas	-4	73	67	72
T31	Marc Leishman	-4	71	68	73
T31	Thorbjorn Olesen	-4	71	67	74
T31	Martin Flores	-4	69	68	75
T39	David Hearn	-3	71	73	69
T39	Cameron Tringale	-3	73	70	70
T39	Aaron Baddeley	-3	69	74	70
T39	Freddie Jacobson	-3	71	71	71
T39	Justin Thomas	-3	73	68	72
T39	Jim Furyk	-3	73	68	72
T39	Dustin Johnson	-3	73	68	72
T39	Luke Donald	-3	71	69	73
T47	Kiradech Aphibarnrat	-2	73	71	70
T47	David Lingmerth	-2	72	72	70
T47	Ryo Ishikawa	-2	72	71	71
T47	Phil Mickelson	-2	72	70	72
T47	Charley Hoffman	-2	69	72	73
T47	Nick Watney	-2	69	71	74
T47	Gary Woodland	-2	71	68	75
T54	Charles Howell III	-1	69	75	71
T54	Michael Thompson	-1	67	76	72
T56	K.J. Choi	E	73	71	72
T56	Stewart Cink	E	71	73	72
T56	Jason Allred	E	74	68	74
T56	Chris Stroud	E	74	68	74
T60	Michael Putnam	1	71	73	73
T60	Carl Pettersson	1	72	72	73
T60	Mark Wilson	1	69	74	74
T60	Billy Hurley III	1	73	70	74
T60	Kevin Kisner	1	69	72	76
T65	John Huh	2	73	70	75
T65	Greg Chalmers	2	71	72	75
T65	Hyung-Sung Kim	2	70	72	76
T65	Pat Perez	2	71	70	77
T69	Carlos Ortiz	3	75	68	76
T69	Josh Teater	3	71	72	76
T69	Lucas Glover	3	70	73	76
T72	Richard Lee	4	76	68	76
T72	Scott Stallings	4	72	71	77
T74	Gonzalo Fdez-Castano	6	73	70	79
T74	Kyle Stanley	6	74	68	80
76	J.B. Holmes	7	67	75	81