13 October 2018

 

2018 CIMB Classic 


(2nd of 46 events in the 2018-19 PGA TOUR Season)

K Lumpur, Malaysia 

Oct 11-14, 2018   

Purse: $7,000,000

TPC Kuala Lumpur                             

Par/Yards: 36-3672/7,005

Third-Round Notes – Saturday, October 13, 2018


Weather: Partly sunny and a high of 86F (30C). Wind W 5-10 mph (9-15 kph)

 

Third-Round Leaderboard

Marc Leishman 68-62-67—197 (-19)
Gary Woodland  69-61-67—197 (-19)
Shubhankar Sharma 67-64-66—197 (-19)
Louis Oosthuizen 66-68-65—199 (-17)
Bronson Burgoon 63-69-67—199 (-17)

Five Things to Know

 

  •  Marc Leishman, Gary Woodland, and Shubhankar Sharma, who all played in the final group together Saturday, hold a three-way tie for the 54-hole lead at 19-under-par. 
  • Shubhankar Sharma is bidding to become only the second player from India to win on the PGA TOUR. Arjun Atwal won the 2010 Wyndham Championship. 
  • Leishman opened his third round with birdie-birdie-eagle start and was 7-under after 10 holes but played the last eight holes in 2-over for a 5-under 67.
  • Woodland is looking to convert the 54-hole lead/co-lead for the first time in his career and in search of his second victory in less than a year after winning the 2018 Waste Management Phoenix Open in February. 
  • 2017 FedExCup Champion Justin Thomas carded a 3-under 69 and is seven shots back of the lead in his bid for his third CIMB Classic title.  

Third-Round Lead Notes

 

Third-round leaders/co-leaders at the CIMB Classic to win since 2010 (Ben Crane/2010, Bo Van Pelt/2011, Ryan Moore/2013, Ryan Moore/2014, Justin Thomas/2015, Pat Perez/2017)

Gary Woodland (-19/197)
 

Carded a 5-under 67 to post 19-under 197 through 54 holes – the third lowest 54-hole score of his career on the PGA TOUR.

 

  • Has held the 54-hole lead/co-lead five times previously in his career and has never converted the 54-hole lead into a victory. He previously held the 54-hole lead/co-lead at the 2011 Bob Hope Classic (lost in a playoff), 2013 The Barclays (T2), 2014 Farmers Insurance Open (T10), 2016 The Memorial Tournament (T4) and 2016 OHL Classic at Mayakoba (2).
  • Gary Woodland, runner-up at the CIMB Classic in 2013 and 2014, tied the course record at TPC Kuala Lumpur’s West course with his 11-under 61 in the second round, matching Justin Thomas’ second round score in 2015. The 11-under 61 was a career low on the PGA TOUR. 
  • Played the first 49 holes of the CIMB Classic without a bogey before a bogey on the 14th hole Saturday. 
  • Finished 26th in the FedExCup standings during the 2017-18 Season and recorded his third career victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open where he closed with a 64. 
  • Closed the 2017-18 Season with 11 consecutive made cuts, including top-25s in six of his last seven starts. 
  • In five prior appearances at the CIMB Classic, the three-time PGA TOUR winner has two runner-ups (T2/2014 and 2nd/2015).

 

Woodland Quotes: Played very well today. Didn't make as many putts as I did yesterday, but drove the ball well. Kind of got a little loose there a little bit on the back nine, maybe ran out of gas a little, but it was nice to finish up with a birdie and nice to get some momentum going into tomorrow. It would be nice (to win). I love this golf course, I love coming here, the people are great, food's great, the golf course is phenomenal. They've done a phenomenal job with the redo. It's in as good of shape as I've ever seen. Sets up for a great day tomorrow and hopefully we can go out and have a good round, see what happens.

Marc Leishman (-19/197)

 

His 19-under 197 through three rounds is the third lowest 54-hole score of his career. 

 

  • Has held the lead/co-lead three times previously with the 2017 BMW Championship being his lone victory among those three. 
  • Making his sixth appearance at the CIMB Classic, with a 5th place finish in 2016 CIMB Classic as his best prior result.
  • Through a 29-hole stretch from the 18th hole of the first round to the 10th hole of the third round, Leishman played those 29 holes in 19-under-par. 
  • Chasing his fourth PGA TOUR victory, with victories at the 2012 Travelers Championship, 2017 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and 2017 BMW Championship. 
  • Finished 29th on the FedExCup final points standings in the recent 2017-18 Season following six top-10s including runner-up finishes at the CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES and AT&T Byron Nelson. It's going to be something pretty low, I would think. If you can get to 25-under, that's got to be a really good start, but who knows what the weather does or with the wind and what they do with the pins.  Got to take what the day gives you and hope you can play good.

 

Leishman Quotes: Played the first 10 holes really well, the putter cooled off a little bit, but hung in there and to shoot 5 under.  Happy with the round, gave myself a good chance tomorrow, so hopefully I can be hot like I was that first 10 holes today and see how we end up. Still feeling good over the ball, so looking forward to tomorrow and having a good round. They're (Woodland and Sharma) playing good. I think we're all playing well. Whoever ends up winning tomorrow, whether in my group or not, is going to have to play good. Hopefully, it's me, but we'll have to do something good tomorrow.

Shubhankar Sharma (-19/197)

 

Three-day score of 197 is his lowest 54-hole score on PGA TOUR in 12 starts. Previous low was 200 in World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship in February.

 

  • Shot seven birdies against a lone bogey for his 66 to share the third-round lead. Needed only 25 putts.
  • He is the second Indian after Anirban Lahiri to lead/co-lead the third round at the CIMB Classic. Lahiri led by four in 2016 before finishing T3.
  • Sharma has won two tournaments over the past 12 months, the Joburg Open in December and Malaysian Championship in February, events sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour. Currently leads the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity standings.
  • The Indian golfer led after the second round and third round at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship in February before finishing T9, which is his career best finish on TOUR from 11 starts.
  • Best Asian finishers at CIMB Classic are Hideki Matsuyama 2016/2nd, Lahiri 2016/T3 and Kiradech Aphibarnrat 2013/T3
  • Missed four cuts in his last five tournaments before arriving to the CIMB Classic. 
  • Making his first appearance at the CIMB Classic. 

 

Sharma Quotes: I got off to a flyer, front nine was great, 4 under par through seven, and back nine I made a lot of crucial par putts and missed a few coming in, but really happy with the way I played and hung in there. Good thing is that I've been in this position before and I'm in it again.  But the good thing also is that we're in Asia and I'm going to get a lot of support from all the fans.  I know what to do and what not to do, so I'll just try and relax as much as possible and come back tomorrow strong. On this golf course you have to be good with your strategy, but it's all about hitting it as close as possible from the fairways because you're hitting short irons on every hole.  I know tomorrow it's an open tournament, it's anyone's tournament tomorrow, so it's all about getting off to a good start and just trying to go as low as possible.  Anything is possible until the 18th hole tomorrow

Louis Oosthuizen (-17/199)

 

After earlier rounds of 66 and 68, shot his low round of the week with a 65. Made eight birdies against a lone bogey.

 

  • Finished 69th in the 2017-18 FedExCup final standings with three top-10s. Best finish was 3rd at Zurich Classic of New Orleans (with Charl Schwartzel).
  • Bidding to win his second PGA TOUR title following The Open Championship in 2010. Last international win at the 2016 ISPS HANDA Perth International.
  • Making his debut at the CIMB Classic. Has won at TPC Kuala Lumpur previously at the 2012 Malaysian Open.
Bronson Burgoon (-17/199)
 
  • In search of his first career PGA TOUR victory in his 55th career TOUR start. Has never won on the Web.com Tour (62 career starts), PGA TOUR Latinoamerica (21 starts) or Mackenzie TOUR-PGA TOUR Canada (1 start). 
  • Tied his career low in relation to par with the 9-under 63 in the first round. 
  • Opened the 2018-19 PGA TOUR Season with a T53 at the Safeway Open last week. 
  • Finished the 2017-18 PGA TOUR Season 78th in the FedExCup standings. Collected two top-10s, including a season-best T2 at the 2018 John Deere Classic. 
  • Finished 18th on the 2015 Web.com Tour money list to secure his PGA TOUR card. Regained his PGA TOUR card in 2017 for 2017-18 Season after finishing 12th on the 2017 Web.com Tour Finals money list. 
  •  Making his first career appearance at the CIMB Classic.
Austin Cook (-16/200)
 
  • In search of his second career PGA TOUR victory after winning The RSM Classic in 2017. 
  • As a rookie on the PGA TOUR during the 2017-18 Season, posted a victory and two additional top-10s on his way to 38th in the FedExCup standings. 
  • Making his first appearance at the CIMB Classic. 

Miscellaneous Notes

 

  • At the 2017 CIMB Classic, Pat Perez held a four-shot, third-round lead at 21-under 195 on his way to a four-shot victory. 
  • Justin Thomas, the highest ranked player in the field, is in T19 at 12-under 204 following a 3-under 69 in the third round. 
  • Anirban Lahiri (2016) and Pat Perez (2017) still hold the largest 54-hole lead in tournament history with a four-shot lead after three rounds. 
  • Stewart Cink posted the round of the day with a 9-under 63. 
  • Nick Watney (2012) and Justin Thomas (2016) hold the largest come-from-behind victory in tournament history, coming from four strokes back on Sunday for the victory. 
  • International Presidents Cup Team Captain Ernie Els fired a bogey-free 6-under 66 in the third round. Els, the 19-time PGA TOUR winner and World Golf Hall of Famer, is at 10-under 206. 
  • The 240-yard par-3 11th played as the most difficult hole on the course Saturday (3.205).
  • Four of the top six players on the leaderboard – Shubhankar Sharma, Bronson Burgoon, Louis Oosthuizen and Austin Cook – are making their first start at the CIMB Classic. 

Bogey-free rounds: 

 

R1: Austin Cook (64), Billy Horschel (65), Kevin Chappell (66), Emiliano Grillo (66), Louis Oosthuizen (66), Scott Stallings (67), Kevin Na (68), Gary Woodland (70)

R2: Gary Woodland (61), Marc Leishman (62), Keith Mitchell (65), John Catlin (65), Kevin Chappell (67), Charles Howell III (67), Austin Cook (68), Chesson Hadley (68), Whee Kim (68), Justin Thomas (69), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (69)

R3: Stewart Cink (63), Charles Howell III (65), Ernie Els (66), Kyle Stanley (66), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (68), Andrew Putnam (68)

 

Scoring Averages at the par-72 TPC Kuala Lumpur (West):         

Front 9 Back 9 Total
R1:            34.013  35.808  69.821
R2:            34.039  35.397 69.436
R3:            34.116   35.089 69.205

Shubhankar Sharma

Marc Leishman

 

Gary Woodland