July 21, 2012

Woodland Climbs in Third Round of Open Championship

July 21, 2012

LANCASHIRE, England – Gary Woodland fired his second consecutive round of even par and was among the biggest movers at the 2012 Open Championship on the Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Course Saturday.

For the second consecutive day, the former Kansas Jayhawk found his stride near the turn, using an eagle on par-5 no. 7 to erase a couple bogeys early in the round. Though the Topeka, Kan. native didn’t log any birdies over the final 11 holes after logging five on Friday, he also managed to avoid any bogeys.

Woodland, who competed for the Jayhawks from 2004-07, climbed 25 spots and was tied for 43rd heading into Sunday’s final round. Woodland’s 73-70-70—213 (+3) was three strokes from the top-25 and he’s on pace to top his 2011 Open Championship performance of 75-68-74-72—289 (+9) and 30th-place finish.

Zach Johnson, who played for new Kansas men’s golf coach Jamie Bermel at Drake, carded the low round of the day at 66 and jumped into the tournament’s top five. Adam Scott overtook Friday’s leader Brandt Snedeker in the chase for the Claret Jug with a 2-under 68 on Saturday and leads the field at 11-under after 54 holes.

Woodland will tee off at 10:50 a.m. local time (4:50 a.m. CT) Sunday and will again be paired with a former Oklahoma State golfer in Rickie Fowler. Woodland was paired with OSU’s Charles Howell III for Saturday’s round. ESPN’s live coverage will run from 5 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (CT) Sunday, with tape delayed coverage available from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. (CT) on ABC.