Australian John Senden made a most unusual par as he moved into a tie for sixth place after the third round at the Wyndham Championship today.
Senden blocked his drive out-of-bounds at the par-five fifth hole, which forced him to reload and hit his third shot from the same tee, from where he took only three more strokes, chipping in for what would have been an eagle had it not been for the errant first tee shot.
"It was a tough shot," Senden said of his chip-in from 13 metres.
"It was behind the green, a bit above the hole and it bounced really nicely towards the hole and straight in."
Despite shooting a three-under-par 67, Senden lost ground, slipping eight strokes behind Swedish leader Carl Pettersson, who could not emulate his sizzling second round 61, following it up with a solid 66 on another benign day at Sedgefield.
Pettersson was at 19-under 191, two strokes clear of American Scott McCarron (64), who holed a 15-metre bunker shot at the last, with another four-shot break to third place.
Senden was not ready to concede defeat, claiming another 61 was out there for anyone who finds a hot putter.
"What Carl shot on Friday was an indication of how the course is playing," Senden said.
"A 64 might be good enough tomorrow. You just never know how the leaders are going to play.
"The way I'm playing, hopefully I can get off to a good start again and come out with a hot putter. I'm hitting the ball nicely. I've just got to get the job done."
Pettersson made a slow start with four straight pars, before gathering an eagle at the par-five fifth.
His only blemish came at the par-five 15th, which he bogeyed after three-putting from barely a metre, lipping-out both his birdie and par attempt.
"I was a little disappointed with my putter but I thought I played really good and handled myself well," he said.
"It was probably the worst score I could have shot. I had so many chances I didn't convert."
