Danny Willett called it “a nice day’s work,’’ adding he “wasn’t quite expecting’’ the 5-under 66 he shot in Saturday’s third round of The Northern Trust at Liberty National in Jersey City.
“After 12 holes, we were just teetering around and not really doing anything and yeah the last kind of six holes, jumped up on us pretty fast,’’ Willett said. “A good position going into [Sunday] and hopefully we can just enjoy ourselves and end up with one of them top-70 spots.’’
Willett is 11-under and three shots out of the lead held by Patrick Reed. The top 70 players in the FedEx Cup points standings move on to the BMW Championship next week outside of Chicago.
The highlight of Willett’s round was an eagle two he took on the short par-4 16th hole.
“I pulled my tee shot into the left rough, as I have done every day,’’ he said. “Yeah, a little bump-and-run 8-iron under the tree and up the bank. To be honest, anywhere on and around that green would have been a great shot, and for it to pop in then, it’s one of [those] really nice bonuses you get.’’
Asked if he feels like his game is trending in the right direction working with swing coach Sean Foley, Willett said: “There’s a lot that goes into this game. It’s not just about swings and about moves and this and that. The body is as good as it has been. We’re completely pain-free. We’re working out pretty good. From that, you can practice harder and kind of then tick off every box, whereas before, the body still wasn’t quite great.’’
Willett called getting back into contention “real nice,’’ adding, “The U.S. Open, two straight weeks where we were up there and then being back at The Open in contention was amazing a couple of weeks ago.’’
Byeong Hun An isn’t likely to win this week. He’s 6-under after shooting 68 on Saturday. But An is happy with his comeback from a poor start Thursday.
“I think until the fourth hole, the fifth hole, into the par 5, I was 4-over, and to be where I am now … I’m happy to be playing the weekend to be fair,’’ he said. “I hit it OK but I didn’t putt it great and I knew I had sort of faith in me after playing last week, keeping the momentum going. I just stayed aggressive and made an eagle in the first round. I think that definitely helped seeing 2-over par and made a big save after the first round, but that gave me hope to say, trying to make the cut.
“[Friday] I was kind of lucky, because I played in the morning and wind was calmer than this and greens were nice, so I made a lot of putts. Everything just clicked. So that’s how I was able to make the cut. To be here playing the weekend, I think that’s a big bonus after the sloppy start Thursday.’’
Off the course, An and his wife have a baby due in February.
“I’m really, really excited to hear that news and just can’t wait to have my son,’’ he said. “It will be life-changing I think.’’
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