Reed Hanging Tough in Cadillac Championship; Woods Rallies


On a day when the Blue Monster at Doral was much more amenable for scoring, Patrick Reed continued to stand atop the leaderboard at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, the $9 million PGA Tour event underway at Trump National Doral in Miami.

Reed, a 23-year-old Texan with two wins in his young career, carded an eagle on the par-5 eighth hole, three birdies and two bogeys for a 3-under 69 and a 54-hole total of 4-under 212 for a two-stroke lead over Jason Dufner (68) and Hunter Mahan (71).

After finishing his round, Dufner said the players are adjusting to the revamped Blue Monster course, which underwent a complete remodel by architect Gil Hanse after Donald Trump bought Doral Resort last year.

"It's a new golf course for everybody this week," said the 2013 PGA champion. "The conditions have been different every day, so being able to adjust on the fly and pick your spots is pivotal to playing well this week. I was able to do a pretty good job of that today."

Sharing fourth at 1-under 215 are defending champion Tiger Woods, who rebounded with the low third round, a 6-under 66, after opening with a 76 and 73, and Welshman Jamie Donaldson (71).

"It was nice to get back in the tournament again," said Wood, who posted eight birdies and two bogeys. "I held it together yesterday [a 1-over 73], a long day - a long, tough day and that gave me a chance today.

"I figured, hey, I'm only six back, that's definitely doable, especially with the conditions and how difficult this golf course is playing. If I just get back to even par for the tournament, I'll be right there and I did one better."

Four behind Reed at even-par 216 are 50-year-old Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez (69) and unrelated Americans Zach Johnson (71) and Dustin Johnson (73).

Matt Kuchar began Saturday only a stroke behind Reed but shot a 74 to fall into a tie for ninth at 1-over 217 with fellow American Bubba Watson (72), South African Richard Sterne (70) and Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell (73).

Phil Mickelson recorded his first under-par round of the tournament, a 3-under 69, to rise into a tie for 14th at 2-over 218 with South Africa's Branden Grace (69) and fellow Yanks Bill Haas (69), Ryan Moore (69) and Nick Watney (71).

Seven shots out of the lead are Northern ireland's Rory McIlroy (75) and The Netherlands' Joost Luiten (71).

After being only one of three players to break par Friday afternoon - the others were Donaldson and McDowell - American Chris Kirk recorded a 76 to drop into a tie for 37th at 6-over in the 69-player field.

While three posted rounds in the 80s Friday, no players had such rocky numbers in the third round.

For all the scores, visit http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/cadillac-championship/leaderboard.html.