Sunday 28 January 2018 01:15, UK
Alex Noren emerged as the surprise 54-hole leader at the Farmer Insurance Open as Jon Rahm's hopes of retaining his title took a hit at Torrey Pines.
Noren's 69 lifted him one-shot clear of long-time leader Ryan Palmer, but Rahm will have to come from four behind to replace Dustin Johnson as world No 1 after he double-bogeyed the final hole to return a disappointing 75.
Justin Rose is just three adrift of his fellow European Tour star after he kept a bogey off his card and made three birdies to jump to eight under, while Tiger Woods is eight off the pace following a battling 70 in which he was indebted to a sharp short-game having hit only three of the 14 fairways on the South Course.
Noren will go into Sunday's final round with the lead in a PGA Tour event for the first time in his career after Palmer, Rahm and Luke List all faltered down the stretch on Saturday evening.
The Swede opened with five pars and then appeared in the mix when he rolled in a 40-foot putt for eagle at the sixth, although he then broke another run of pars with a double-bogey six at the 12th, where it took him four shots just to find the green.
But he responded with a birdie at the next, and Noren picked up further shots at two of the last three holes to claim the clubhouse lead on 11 under, and he was suddenly the leader outright when Palmer followed an eagle at 13 with dropped shots at 14 and 16 before parring in to card a 73.
JB Holmes stormed into the hunt with a sensational seven-birdie 29 on the front nine which added up to a 65, the low round of the day, and the Ryder Cup star shares third on nine under with Michael Kim.
Rose is one further back after a birdie at the last capped a flawless three-under round which lifted him to eight under alongside former champion Jason Day, whose erratic 71 featured three birdies over the opening five holes but also three bogeys in four holes after the turn.
American powerhouses Tony Finau and Gary Woodland are also three off the lead along with List, CT Pan and Beau Hossler, with in-form Australian Marc Leishman one shot further back with a frustrated Rahm.
The Spaniard made a confident start with a birdie at the first, but he then bogeyed the next three holes before clawing one back at the long sixth.
Rahm added another birdie at the 10th only to give the shot back with a scrappy five at the 12th, and he failed to take advantage of a perfect drive at the last as his second came up short and found the water hazard, and he took three to get down from the drop zone to run up a costly seven.
Phil Mickelson looked likely to haul himself into contention when he birdied both par-five on the outward half to get to seven under, but the veteran left-hander plummeted down the leaderboard when he double-bogeyed 12 and then made three consecutive bogeys from the 15th to card a 76 and end the round on two under par.
