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A different Oklahoma State Cowboy occupies the top spot on the leaderboard as defending champion Viktor Hovland pushed to the front of the pack. Looking to become the first back-to-back winner in tournament history, the young Norwegian played beautifully on Saturday, carding nine birdies and 10 pars for a career low round of 9-under 62.
Third in driving accuracy and third in greens in regulation, the 24-year-old has put his premiere ball-striking on full display once again. Nothing new for fans of Hovland, those who follow closely should be excited given the vast improvement from around-the-green, boasting a scrambling rate of 81.82 percent thus far.
As it was just last month when Hovland lost nearly 13-strokes in said category in his two starts in Las Vegas. Perhaps a return to El Camaleon was all Hovland needed as he looks to make his way into the winner’s circle for the third-time in his PGA Tour career – possibly stealing the nickname “Prince of Paspalum” from Pat Perez in the process.
He will have his work cut out for him as fellow Cowboy, Talor Gooch, made a back-nine charge to propel himself into Sunday contention. Playing a three-hole stretch in 4-under, the 29-year-old found himself with a chance to inch closer to Hovland late in his round. Eventually shooting 8-under in his third round to get to 17-under for the tournament, Gooch sits two-strokes off Hovland’s lead.
Mix in world No. 7 Justin Thomas – who lurks just three-strokes back at 16-under – and we should be in for a great finish in Mexico. The 28-year-old is in search of his first victory since The Players Championship where he found himself three-strokes off the lead at the 54-hole mark, so he is no stranger to this position.
At –175, our friends at PointsBet Sportsbook rightfully have Hovland as an odds-on favorite heading into the final round of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba.
On our end, the third-round as a whole was a letdown. The addition of James Hahn did nothing for us and pre-tournament selections of Joaquin Niemann, Matt Kuchar, and Billy Horschel stalled. It should be noted John Huh came from eight-strokes back in his victory in 2012, so don’t rule out Hahn and Niemann quite yet (sarcasm).
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Updated Odds to Win (Odds Via PointsBet):
-175: Viktor Hovland
+400: Justin Thomas, Talor Gooch
+2500: Carlos Ortiz
+5000: Sergio Garcia
+8000: Scottie Scheffler
+10000: Aaron Wise, J.J. Spaun, Michael Thompson
+12500: Joaquin Niemann
Round 4 Plays (Odds Via PointsBet):
Anirban Lahiri (+700 to finish inside the top-10):
Before the beginning his third round, the Olympian was enjoying a great start to his week at the World Wide Technology Championship. For one reason or another, he sputtered out of the gates on Saturday, getting behind the eight-ball and playing defense from the very go.
Playing the first three-holes in 3-over, Lahiri three-putted No. 2 before finding a penalty area off-the-tee on No. 3. Outside of those 30 minutes, he continued his strong play at El Camaleon, battling back for a round of 1-under 70 to sit in a tie for 17th and one-stroke outside the current top-10 – essentially two-strokes given the number of players.
With previous finishes of T-28, T-14, and T-10 on the Greg Norman design, Lahiri has found success here in the past and is in prime position for a comparable result. In each of those outings, the 34-year-old had one round in which he found a bit of trouble. Hoping it was today, Lahiri should be able to bounce back and card something in the mid-60’s tomorrow alongside Matthew Wolff.
Hitting 64.29 percent of fairways and 72.22 percent of greens in regulation, the world No. 284 ranks in a tie for fifth in birdies with 17. While the ball-striking looks solid, the putter has found some form as well, sitting inside the top-20 in putts per green in regulation. He looked a bit lost on the greens in Round 3, but if able to put together a performance similar to the first or second round then I like his chances to find the backdoor.
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