Cal Golf: Collin Morikawa Falls to Third Place as Justin Thomas Plays Flawlessly

Collin Morikawa lost the edge he had for two days and watched as Justin Thomas took charge in the Workday Charity Open with nearly perfect play through three rounds.

Morikawa entered Saturday with a three-stroke lead at 13 under par, but sprinkled four bogeys in his round and finished the day with an even-par 72. He remains at 13 under and trails Thomas by three strokes heading into Sunday’s final round.

The 23-year-old Cal grad dropped from the lead to third place, as Viktor Hovland, a 22-year-old Norwegian out of Oklahoma State, also moved ahead of him into second at 14 under. Sam Burns, 23, is tied for fourth, setting up a Sunday showdown with some of the game’s most promising young talent.

Morikawa, Hovland and Thomas will play together on Sunday, with Thomas, 27, taking aim at his third victory of the season, the 13th of his career.

"It'll be fun to hang with those guys tomorrow, but at the end of the day I'm worried about myself and trying to win a golf tournament and have a good round," Thomas said.

Morikawa, aiming for his second career victory as a pro, was 15 under after birdies on the fifth and sixth holes at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio. But he bogeyed the ninth, 10th and 12th and could not hold off the hard-charging Thomas.

Morikawa's third-round scorecard: 

Morikawa, who shot 65 and 66 the first two days, led for 31 consecutive holes. He, blamed himself for Saturday's six-stroke swing against Thomas.

"It was just a little frustrating that I couldn't get really any iron shots going, and when you have days like that, you just kind of fight them off,” he said.

"I put myself in spots you couldn't put yourself in. Couldn't really figure out wind directions, how much to adjust. But whole new day tomorrow, and kind of glad I fought it out through even par got myself three back. So that can change really quickly tomorrow."

Thomas put together six birdies on Saturday and has 16 without a bogey through 54 holes. He carded a 66 in the third round.

Hovland, who began the day five strokes off the pace, collected eight birdies, including four on the first seven holes to wind up at 66 for the day. He is two strokes behind Thomas, one ahead of Morikawa.

Sunday’s final round will start earlier than originally scheduled because of heavy storms forecast for later in the afternoon.

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Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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