ON THE LINKS Saturday’s pro golf results

WGC MEXICO OPEN

Johnson overcomes tree trouble for lead

MEXICO CITY

Dustin Johnson was cruising along Saturday in the Mexico Championship until one swing put him in a bad spot, and the next shot made it even worse.

One minute he was leading by six shots. Two holes later, he was leading by two.

For all that went wrong, Johnson knew everything was right with his game. There was no need to panic, and he didn’t.

Johnson responded from his double bogey on the 10th hole with two straight birdies. He made two more birdies sandwiched around an up-and-down par from 105 yards, and he wound up with a 5-under 66 that gave him a four-shot lead over Rory McIlroy going into the final round.

“I knew I was playing well, so I didn’t really let it bother me,” Johnson said. “I felt like I was swinging good and I knew I could make quite a few birdies coming in. So it was one of those things where it was unfortunate, but I felt like I kept my focus and played really solid coming in.”

The 10th hole was his first score worse than par at Chapultepec Golf Club this week.

And it was his last of the day.

McIlroy, suddenly back in the game, could not get any closer and had to settle for a 68.

“It’s going to be tough, especially against D.J., who is arguably the best player in the world,” McIlroy said. “So I’m going to have to go out there and just play a good round of golf, and hopefully that’s good enough.”

Johnson was at 16-under 197. No one else was closer than seven shots of the lead.

Tiger Woods pulled within four shots after Johnson’s blunder, but his hopes ended on the greens.

Woods had a 5-iron from the middle of the fairway on the par-5 15th, put it into a bunker, blasted out weakly to 25 feet and four-putted for a double bogey, with the last three putts from just outside 3 feet.

He followed that with a three-putt bogey on the 16th, and a birdie on the final hole gave him a 70. Woods, who hit 16 greens in regulation, was 10 shots behind and in no mood to speak to anyone after the round.

PGA PUERTO RICO OPEN

Aaron Baddeley shoots 66 to take lead

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico

Aaron Baddeley shot a 6-under 66 on Saturday at windy Coco Beach Golf and Country Club to take the third-round lead in the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open.

Baddeley had a 12-under 204 total for a one-stroke lead over Nate Lashley in the event that was canceled last year because of Hurricane Maria.

“I hit a lot of greens today,” Baddeley said. “I just feel like it was a pretty low stress today. I hit the ball close a few times, I had some short birdie putts, so just doing a few things like that made it pretty comfortable.”

The 37-year-old Australian won the 2016 Barbasol Championship for the last of his four PGA Tour titles.

“The last couple weeks I haven’t quite hit the ball as I normally have been hitting it,” Baddeley said. “And then figured out one little thing I wasn’t quite doing, one of my keys. And this week I’m hitting the ball really well. And also making some putts. That’s key.”

LPGA THAILAND

Amy Yang, Minjee Lee share third-round lead

CHONBURI, Thailand

Two-time champion Amy Yang of South Korea and Australian Minjee Lee shared the lead on 15-under 201 after the third round of the LPGA Thailand on Saturday.

Yang, who won twice on this course in 2015 and 2017, had six birdies for a 6-under 66, and Lee also had six birdies — and one bogey — for 67, which included a stunning 30-foot downhill putt on the final hole at Siam Country Club Pattaya. They have a two-stroke lead.

“It was really hot out there, probably a little more than yesterday, but the play was moving along so it was okay,” Lee said. “I feel I played really solid. In the seven-week break, we worked on my technique and trying to get my swing a little faster. I’m not sure if that really worked — when I got out there today I just found a place I was comfortable and went with that.”

Associated Press