PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) – Ian Poulter twice hit into water on the sixth hole, including his shot from the fifth tee. There was a three-shot swing on one hole, a two-shot swing on another. That was just the final hour of the Honda Classic on Sunday.
And it might have been a prelude to the sprint-to-the finish on Monday.
When the long day ended at soggy PGA National, Poulter and Paul Casey were tied for the lead at 7-under par – Poulter on the eighth tee, Casey in the rough on the 10th hole. They were one shot ahead Patrick Reed, who fell out of the lead with a bogey on his final hole at the par-3 seventh.
Phil Mickelson was among four players who were three shots behind at 4-under par. That group included Daniel Berger, the PGA Tour rookie from West Palm Beach whose final shot Sunday was a 35-foot chip-in for birdie on the 11th hole.
“This sort of situation is going to be difficult for everybody, and it just breaks up momentum,” said Casey, who had more than anyone after going out in 31. “Some guys will carry it through tomorrow. Others won’t, and that’s very difficult to predict. … You just hope you wake up tomorrow and you feel like you’ve got the same kind of golf swing and putts are going in the hole. You just don’t know. Hope the golfing gods are nice to us tomorrow.”