With adrenaline flowing more, U.S. Open champ Woodland makes Saturday push at Colonial
Gary Woodland didn’t have the adrenaline going when the Charles Schwab Challenge started on Thursday. He mentioned to his caddie that he didn’t feel like the ball was traveling as far even though he was paired with Phil Mickelson and defending Colonial champion Kevin Na.
After all, there were no fans.
But the juices were flowing all right on Saturday as Woodland found himself squarely in the mix of a loaded leaderboard. The reigning U.S. Open champion was briefly tied for the lead and will go into Sunday’s final round just 1 shot back of leader Xander Schauffele (13-under).
Woodland will be in the final pairing with Schauffele. Their tee time is set for 1:10 p.m. as 14 players will start within 3 shots of the lead.
“You get a field like this, it definitely has a major feel,” Woodland said. “You’ve got a lot of the top players in the world, and everybody is playing well. I think everybody is excited to be out here. With no fans here, you get some big names up there that you definitely get the juices going. Adrenaline was definitely going a little bit more today than the first two days. I expect more of that tomorrow. You’ve got a great leaderboard, a great field and a great golf course and a great tournament, so it should be fun.”
It shouldn’t be too surprising to see Woodland in the mix — he’s No. 18 in the world and won a major championship last year. But he is somewhat of a surprise considering he hasn’t played this tournament since 2012.
That was Woodland’s only appearance in this tournament and he was part of the modified cut following the third round. He shot scores of 70-70-76.
This year is a different story.
Woodland opened with a 5-under 65 and then posted scores of 67 and 66. He’s made only three bogeys through the first three rounds.
“I played solid today. I drove the golf ball well, which you’ve got to do out here,” Woodland said. “My distance control has been really good all week with the irons, but got a couple key putts to go in. It was nice to get the last two to go in, make dinner taste a little better going into tomorrow. But all in all it was a solid day and still in a good position going into Sunday.”
As far as the game plan on Sunday, Woodland said: “You’ve got to play aggressive. The greens are receptive. You’ve got to drive the golf ball in the fairway and you’re going to have to make birdies. There’s too many guys up at the top, too many great players. You’re going to have to go out and earn it tomorrow.”
