AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Eight holes into the third round of the Bridgestone Invitational on Saturday, Zach Johnson was tied for the lead. That melted away on one hole.
"I tried to play safe every shot. I tried to play the percentages on every single shot," he said, recapping the par-4 hole. "And I had to hit a 4-footer for an 8."
Gamely trying to make light of the situation, he added, "It was a good 8."
The reigning Masters champion was 1-under on the day and 5-under for the tournament and tied for the lead with playing partner Rory Sabbatini as he stepped to the ninth tee.
But Johnson's drive went into the thick, clingy, deep grass right of the fairway. It grabbed his club and caused his second shot to go across the fairway into the left rough. The best he could do from there was to muscle the ball short of the green, where he chipped over the green into more of the thick stuff.
He barely advanced his first chip, then came up short of the green with his second. From there he was able to chop the ball on the green with his seventh shot and hit the putt for the quadruple-bogey.
Still not over the ninth, he came back with a double-bogey 6 on the 10th. Johnson finished with a 76 and enters the final round tied for 11th, six shots back of Sabbatini.
"I tried to be conservative. I tried to take the smart approach, which is how I play," he said. "I got slapped around pretty good."
GREENS WORK
Someone painted an obscene sketch near the middle of the fourth green sometime between the end of the second and the beginning of the third round of the Bridgestone Invitational.
"It was vandalism," PGA Tour tournament director Slugger White said. "We put some green sand on it to try to mask it as best we could."
But that didn't do the job. The paint was clearly visible to players. As he played the fourth hole, Tiger Woods glanced at it and smiled.
