Cadillac Championship: day 3 report

A hole-in-one helped J.B. Holmes retain his lead through three rounds of the WGC – Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral in Florida.

A hole-in-one helped J.B. Holmes retain his lead through three rounds of the WGC – Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral in Florida.

Holmes fired a two-under-par 70 and carries a five shot lead into the final round over fellow Americans Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson.

Dustin Johnson was the first to ace the 207-yard 4th hole at the Blue Monster at Doral then, amazingly, Holmes repeated the feat just half an hour later.

When the Kentuckian scored the hole-in-one he moved five shots ahead. His advantage was cut to one by the 12th, but with birdies at the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th he moved six ahead. A bogey on the home hole meant he carded a 70 for a three-round total of 11-under par.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Holmes. “I had a great time out there and just enjoyed playing a difficult golf course and enjoyed the challenge; it was definitely hard. You've got to think your way around the golf course, and it's really a ball-striker's golf course.  I'm just going to go out tomorrow and control what I control and do my routines and have fun and whatever happens, happens.”

Despite his hole-in-one Dustin Johnson, playing in only his third event since returning from a break from competitive golf, felt he left a few shots on the course.

"I should have made a few more birdies than I did but this golf course is tough so I'll go out tomorrow, get some pressure on J.B. early and you never know what will happen," he said.

Bubba Watson holed a bunker shot on the last to post a 70 and tie Johnson for second place on six-under-par.

Lee Westwood is now the leading Brit on three-under-par after a third round of 70. The Englishman is playing in his 50th World Golf Championship event.

"I think 70 is a pretty good score. I made a couple of mistakes out there. I hit a lot of good shots though and didn't get rewarded for some of them,” he said. "I'm trying to keep myself in shape at the moment. I'm 42 in a couple of months but I still really feel fit and fresh and mentally sharp and keen to keep playing. As long as I am enjoying getting out of bed and practising and working on my game there's no reason I shouldn't carry on."

WGC – Cadillac Championship Blue Monster, Trump National Doral, Florida Mar 5-8, purse: $9,500,000, par: 72

1    J.B. Holmes (USA)        62    73    70    205 T2    Dustin Johnson (USA)        68    73    69    210 T2    Bubba Watson (USA)        71    69    70    210 4    Ryan Moore (USA)        66    71    74    211 T5    Bill Haas (USA)            74    73    65    212 T5    Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)        71    74    67    212 T5    Henrik Stenson (Swe)        69    71    72    212 T8    Lee Westwood (Eng)        71    72    70    213 T8    Webb Simpson (USA)        74    69    70    213 T8    Sergio Garcia (Esp)        73    69    71    213 T8    Adam Scott (Aus)            70    68    75    213

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage