Bubba Watson of the United States watches his second shot on the tenth hole during the third round of the Hero World Challenge at Albany, The Bahamas, on Saturday. (AFP)

Agencies/New Providence, The Bahamas


American Bubba Watson carded a flawless course record-equalling nine-under-par 63 and stormed to a two-stroke lead over Englishman Paul Casey after the third round at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas on Saturday.
The dual Masters champion, boosted by an early eagle, added seven birdies to post a 19-under 197 total at Albany Golf Club in New Providence.
Watson was caught by surprise by his eagle, with a seven-iron from 169 yards at the par-four fourth. He yelled at his ball to get “down” as it flew through the air, and it obeyed nicely, landing some 18 inches in front of the cup and bouncing in.
In the field as an alternate after Australian Jason Day withdrew, Watson is in prime position to win, though his record in closing the deal is not exactly comparable with tournament host Tiger Woods.
Watson has won only twice out of nine times on the PGA Tour when holding the lead or a share of the lead through 54 holes, while the third round leader has won the World Challenge only three times in the last 11 seasons.
“It was a good day,” Watson told reporters.
“The key for me around this golf course, I think for everybody, though, as we’re seeing, when there’s no wind, light wind, we can score.
“We’re all good players, don’t get me wrong. We’re all top 50 in the world. But with no wind, this golf course is a little bit easier to make birdies.”
Second-placed Casey, who earlier set the record mark with a 63 of his own, moved into second place on 17-under, with Americans Patrick Reed and Chris Kirk another shot behind.
World number one Jordan Spieth, who held a share of the halfway lead, carded 68 to slip four shots behind.
With birdies a plenty on offer in ideal conditions, Jimmy Walker, another 36-hole co-leader, shot 71 to drop seven shots off the pace.
India’s leading golfer Anirban Lahiri went through a disappointing third and penultimate round of one-over 73 that saw him take 15th position.
The 28-year-old, playing on a special exemption in the 18-man field event, failed to collect a birdie in the front-nine but instead bogeyed the par-four fourth hole.
“I got a mud ball on fourth (meaning mud was stuck on the ball, but he could not lift to clean it because it was not on the greens) and that lead to an errant approach shot. It resulted in a bogey,” said Lahiri in a release.
On the back nine, the world No 39 did get birdies on 14th and 15th, but bogeys on 13th and 17th pulled him back and did not allow any recovery. He once again missed more than a few short putts.
“I just could not get going the whole day, neither on front or back nines,” said Lahiri. “It was overall quite disappointing as I got off to a bad start and never got any momentum going.”
On Sunday, the winner of Malaysia and India Open plays with world No 5 Justin Rose, who scored two-under 70 to be 16th on 213 total.
“Anyway I will try to finish strongly in the final round of the tournament, post which I will be taking off for some time,” added Lahiri.
The $3.5 million tournament, which comprises an exclusive 18-man field, offers world ranking points, though it is not an official PGA Tour event.