La Jolla (California, USA), Jan 29 (EFE) .- Mexican Carlos Ortiz, who starred in the best round of the third round of the PGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open tournament, rose to first place in the provisional classification , which he shares with the American Patrick Reed, after adding both 206 strokes (-10).
His advantage is two strokes over a list of five players, among which is the Spanish Jon Rahm, who added 208 strokes (-8), all of them with options to fight for the title this Sunday, when the fourth and last day of the tournament that distributes 7.5 million dollars in prizes.
Ortiz, as happened in the second round, was one of the golfers who best adapted to the weather conditions of the Torrey Pines South municipal course in La Jolla (California), this time without the wind or rain of the previous days.
He demonstrated it with a record of 66 strokes (-6), the best of the day, which allowed him to regain 20 places to co-lead with Reed.
The 29-year-old Mexican, who is seeking his second PGA Tour title, after winning the first last November at the Houston Open, started strong with three birdies until on par 3 of the 11th hole he made the only bogey of the working day.
But he came back with four more birdies, including the three in a row from 15-17 that would ensure his comeback to the lead.
Reed, 30, this time was not as inspired as in previous days, he made a brilliant first half of the course in which he scored an eagle and three birdies.
But in the second it was a nightmare when he committed four consecutive bogeys until on par 5 of the 18th hole he again achieved the birdie that saved the day, in which he was also the protagonist of a controversial action.
Reed, faced with a regulation problem when he dropped a supposedly embedded ball after removing it from a bunker, before the official had arrived as established by the rules.
A ball embedded anywhere on the green, except in sandy areas, is entitled to a free fall, which is what Reed was looking for. But television replays showed that the ball had bounced before settling in the rough, making it difficult for it to be embedded in the ground.
Rahm, second in the world, who starts as a great favorite for the title, remained in the fight despite having an irregular day with a good start with two birdies in a row (holes 2 and 3), but then everything went up and down to end signed card of 72 (par) after making the fourth birdie of the day at hole 17.
Along with Rahm, the Norwegian Viktor Hovland, who came out of the leader, also added 208 shots (-8) after delivering a signed card of 73 hits (+1).
Americans Lanto Griffin and Sam Burns, along with Australian Adam Scott completed the list of five players who share third place.
