06 June 2012: The new normal takes no prisoners. Jon Rahm learnt it the hard way soon as he made it past the 18th green on Saturday. The Spaniard was on COVID watch since Monday for contact tracing and his test results returned positive around the same time he was finishing his duties in the third round. Rahm had built up a formidable six-stroke advantage over Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay with an imposing 64. But it was to no avail, as he was forced to withdraw from the Memorial Tournament to the severe dismay and disappointment of Rahm and many that follow the sport.
As it is, Morikawa and Cantlay will slug it out on Sunday with a three-shot cushion against the chasing group. The former made a 66 while Cantlay shot 68 as the duo worked their way to 12-under, ahead of Branden Grace and Scottie Scheffler. The two of those men are at 9-under in a tie for third. Behind them was Max Homa, who was a further three strokes back at 6-under.
Both the current leaders have experience of winning at Muirfield Village. Morikawa won the Charity Open last year on his way to the PGA Championship victory. Cantlay was a winner of the Memorial Tournament two years ago.
“I want to go see the replay right now. It looked pretty good from my end. It landed a lot closer than I thought, but I don’t know speed-wise how hard it was going in because it was about a foot away from the hole. That would have been really cool, but what are you going to do?” Morikawa said.
“Today was really solid. The couple bogeys I had were just kind of poor bogeys. But it’s going to happen out here, especially if you’re missing the fairways. And overall, I was hitting some really quality shots.
“I stuck to my game and stuck to the game plan. Out here with these soft greens you can get a little aggressive with wedges and put yourself in bad spots, but I thought I played pretty smart and I’ve got to do that tomorrow.”
Morikawa made eight birdies, while Cantlay made five during the third round.
“I thought I played really well. I made a lot of clutch putts on the front and didn’t make as many as I would have liked on the back but closed with a good one. My game’s in a good spot. I hit a lot of solid shots today and played really well. So I’m pretty pleased,” Cantlay said.
“I really like this golf course and see the golf course really well, and so all the good memories I have here, it’s just easier to stand up and visualize the shot that I want to hit. It’s nice when you have that feeling around a place like I do here.”
One of the two men, should one win, would emulate Bryson DeChambeau, Stewart Cink and Jason Kokrak, a multiple event winners in the 2020-21 season.
