Paul Casey has but one PGA Tour victory and that came seven years ago at the Shell Houston Open.
He made his mark on the European Tour but now he’ll have a chance for his biggest victory come stormy Monday in Boston.
Casey is the 54-hole leader after he hit an incredible second shot into the par five 18th that stopped a foot from the hole for an easy closing eagle that jumped him to 15-under par and a three-shot lead at the Deutsche Bank Championship Sunday.
From 235-yards out, Casey’s second hit on the left side of the green, took a friendly bounce and started rolling like a putt, looking as if it might go in for an albatross. It came up just short, but only by a foot. The tap-in gave him his third straight round of 66 at the TPC Boston and a three-stroke advantage over Brian Harman.
“It looked left then the wind gusted and it went right,” is how Casey described his incredible second at 18. “I’m really happy, I hit shots like I did, especially at 18.”
Casey and the field will face bad weather on Monday. The PGA Tour has moved tee times up to 7 a.m. and will send the field off both tees in threesomes. Rain and strong winds, as high as 25-35 miles per hour could torture the field.
“It’s going to be tough out there,” Casey predicted. “I don’t like it but I can deal with it,” Casey said of the predicted wind and rain.
He will play with Harman and Smylie Kaufman. Harman shot 68 and is alone in second at 12-under par.
Kaufman was tied for third with Jimmy Walker and overnight leader Kevin Chappell.
Chappell was 13-under par but got a bad break at the par four 12th where his tee shot ended up in a deep divot. His approach was effected by the poor lie, his shot came up short and bounded back into the hazard guarding the right side of the green. His third hit a rock, bounced straight left and ended up in the left rough. It took him three more to get the job done and he walked off with a double-bogey six that dropped him back to 11-under.
