A day to forget for the Spaniard Sergio Garcia (-10) this Saturday in Macao, or rather, a day to suffer. He started tied for fifth place, just one stroke away from the coveted podium in a tournament that awards three tickets to the Open Championship at Royal Portrush for the top three finishers. Although he only lost one position on the leaderboard, he never quite felt comfortable throughout his round and saw his chances of fighting for victory become practically impossible, with the battle for third place also becoming quite complicated.
Carlos Ortiz (-16) and Patrick Reed (-16) hope to turn Sunday into a head-to-head battle for victory. They did their homework today, without excessive brilliance, with rounds of 66 and 67 strokes, respectively, to face the final 18 holes with a three-stroke lead. A surprising Dominic Foos (-13), with 65 strokes, and Jason Kokrak (-13), who managed to overcome a double bogey at a key moment to also finish his round five under par, present themselves as the main alternatives and the two favourites in the fight for the third ticket to the fourth major of the season. And from there, a long list of contenders…
Chipping artist @carlosortizGolf 🧑🎨@intseriesgolf @TorqueGC_ #InternationalSeries #ThisISEverything #TimeToRise pic.twitter.com/GEj2PUhOpT
— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) March 22, 2025
Lucas Herbert (-11) was also not at his best this Saturday, but he remains in the fight. Meanwhile, Kieran Vincent (-10), like Sergio, held on as best he could to give himself a chance three strokes away from that podium in the tournament and with a one-stroke margin over a group of nine golfers hoping they haven’t said their last word. For the man from Borriol, there’s also the additional problem that in the event of a tie, that third place for the Open is resolved in favour of the player with the better world ranking, where he is behind Herbert, Vincent, and several of his pursuers like Nick Vike (-9), Maximilian Rottluff (-9), or Peter Uihlein (-9), among others. The good news is that he would prevail over both Foo and Kokrak in the event of a tie.
For the man from Castellón, the ‘moving day’ started to get complicated in the same corner of this hilly course, full of ups and downs: the par four of the 2nd hole. For the third consecutive day, he stumbled with a bogey. And although he immediately reacted with a great birdie on the next hole, he didn’t find the necessary momentum to get his round going. Too many times out of position, many missed greens in regulation, difficulties for everyone when putting on greens that have been gaining hardness and speed as the days go by…
A second bogey on the 7th put his score over par again. And although after each mistake came a reaction, in this case with a fantastic birdie on the 9th after a great shot from the fairway, it was clear it wasn’t his day. On the 10th, hitting with an iron, he went long with his approach, the recovery wasn’t good, and he missed the putt for par: back to +1 for the day. On the difficult par three of the 11th, he saved a tricky situation with a wonderful recovery from the sand. But he couldn’t take advantage of the par five of the 12th due to a poor tee shot.
It seemed that finally, after a good birdie on the par five of the 13th where he putted for eagle after hitting the green with his second shot, Sergio‘s moment had arrived on this moving day in China. But the bounce was down again on the par three of the 14th, a hole that became a real headache for everyone due to the pin position, at the top of a crowned green, where the Spaniard’s bogey, his eighth of the week, was actually good, considering the circumstances (a double bogey for Kokrak and neither Reed nor Ortiz came out unscathed).
Inches from an eagle hole-out 🤯@travsmythg settles for a birdie on the par-five 13th. 🙌https://t.co/QQChqRrghk #InternationalSeries #ThisISEverything #TimeToRise pic.twitter.com/EkUxiI5rhj
— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) March 22, 2025
Despite it not being his dream round, the man from Borriol managed to give himself a chance for tomorrow with two very good final birdies. One on the 16th, a hole where he had stumbled in the first two rounds, but today he delivered his best shot of the day, a great approach from the fairway to leave himself a one-metre putt that he didn’t miss. And another on the 18th, the easiest par five on the course where, after a free drop because his second shot ended up next to the stands, he almost made an eagle with a great recovery.
It won’t be easy due to the disadvantage, three strokes behind the third-placed players, the large number of players involved in the fight, and the world ranking handicap that heavily penalises LIV Golf players. But Sergio still holds hope that, with a great Sunday, he can secure that ticket to Royal Portrush, which would be, at least provisionally, his 102nd participation in a major. David Puig (-3), with a round at par today, finds it impossible in this tournament of the International Series in Macao.
