The Honda Classic continues live on Sunday with Luke Guthrie taking the lead into the final day with Michael Thompson at the top of the leader board after Rory McIlroy walked off the course on Friday after playing a bad half round, citing tooth pain.
Guthire, the PGA Tour rookie, continued his hot play on Saturday, shooting pars on the final eight holes to take a 1-over 71 on the day. Thompson finished with a two-putt birdie on the 18th hole to finish with a 70, leaving the two golfers tied at 8-under 202 with a number of big names nipping at their heels.
Lee Westwood had a solid finish to his round, coming from behind on the final five holes with a number of birdies as well as a par shot on the 18th hole to put him two shots behind the lead. Westwood is tied with Geoff Ogilvy, who had three bogeys at the start of the round before finishing with a birdie putt to finish the day with a 70.
"Even par for the day was never going to go backward," Ogilvy said. "It was only going to go forward, and I did that."
Bob Harig wrote on ESPN.com that Ogilvy is close to a Masters invitation and that a win on Sunday would be a great boost for him in that regard.
"I'll be very disappointed if I don't get to play in the Masters for sure," Ogilvy said after an even-par 70 on Saturday in difficult conditions that left him 2 shots behind third-round leaders Luke Guthrie and Michael Thompson.
The leaders have a number of players within striking distance on Sunday, with Charles Howell III, Keegan Bradley, Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler all within four shots heading into the final round of the tournament. Fowler was able to rally into the pack with a birdie-eagle finish to his round to shoot a 69, while the rest of the top 20 players all were 70 or worse.
"The rough is definitely, exactly like a U.S. Open," Thompson said. "You just have to take your medicine and make your bogey, just try to eliminate the doubles out here and just try to play smart golf and know that you're going to make a couple birdies."
Tiger Woods was making a run into the top of the board early in his round, but he fell out of the lead after making some bad shots later in the day. Woods finished with a 70 on the day and ended up eight shots behind the lead after Saturday's round.
A win on Sunday would be a huge boost for Thompson or Guthrie, as a win at the Honda Classic means a trip to the Masters. Both Woods and McIlroy are out of the picture and the advantage could be to one of the two men at the top of the leaderboard.
"You definitely see the names," Guthrie said. "I would like to see them all up there, and hopefully, right behind me. You want to compete, you want to play against the best and lay it all on the line tomorrow on the back nine. Hopefully, they're all there and we're battling."
Television coverage will pick up on Sunday at 1 p.m. on Golf Channel before jumping to NBC at 3 pm ET. CLICK here for the live coverage of the tournament from the official PGA Tour website.
