It’s not unusual to see Alex Noren leading a European Tour event.
Not so much on the PGA Tour.
Nonetheless, Noren has the 54-hole lead at the Farmers Insurance Open, after the lead group experienced a day of problems.
Noren, playing for the first time in the event, shot a 69 and got to 11-under. He will take a one-shot lead over Ryan Palmer into the final round. Palmer, the overnight leader, had an up-and-down day, finished with 73 and is alone at 10-under par.
John Rahm started Saturday a shot behind Palmer but capped a day of struggles with a double-bogey at the 18th after hitting his second shot in the water following a picture-perfect tee shot.
Rahm shot 75, went all the way back to seven-under and tied for 12th.
Two very big names will start just three back of Noren. Justin Rose shot 69 to get to eight-under. Jason Day has experienced a resurgence in his game over the last 36 holes and his 71 put him in striking distance of the lead going into Sunday.
Tiger Woods put on an amazing short game display on his way to shooting a two-under par 70 that moved him from a tie for last into a tie for 39th. Woods hit only three fairways all day, hit just nine greens but managed to shoot under par. He played his last 11 holes two-under and was getting up-and-down for pars from a series of precarious situations.
“That’s just fighting, fighting for a score, grinding,” Woods said. “I made some putts.” Woods noted that his feel is off on most of his shots. “I feel different than in the Bahamas,” he pointed out. As far as his final round goes — “I hope I make it a little bit easier on myself,” he concluded.
