Spieth Still Leads Entering Final Round at Travelers Championship

CROMWELL, CT — As Jordan Spieth tours the TPC River Highlands Sunday in an effort to capture the Travelers Championship in his initial appearance here, he anticipates hearing a lot of boos from the crowd.

The normally derisive term will not be directed at the former Masters and U.S. Open champion, but rather in support of his playing partner, Thomas Brent "Boo" Weekley, who fired a 5-under par 65 Saturday to climb into sole possession of second place, one stroke behind Spieth.

The duo will tee off in the final pairing of the day at 2 p.m.

Spieth had an up-and-down round on "Moving Day" Saturday, reaching 11-under after consecutive birdies at 10 and 11, then briefly relinquishing the lead with bogeys at 13 and 14 to drop back to 9 under.

Charley Hoffman assumed the top spot on the leaderboard by carding eagle-birdie-birdie on holes 13 through 15 to move to 10-under, but a double bogey at 16 and bogeys on 17 and 18 dropped him into a tie for 10th at 6-under.

Meanwhile, Spieth continued to struggle by hitting his tee shot on the 296-yard par-4 15th into a greenside bunker, but a brilliant shot from the sand nearly went in the hole, stopping 8 inches from the cup as the huge gallery let out a tremendous roar.

"I was on the upslope into the wind, so it was as easy as that shot could get," Spieth said at a press conference following his round. "When it came down on the flagstick and it landed, I thought it was going to go in. It just kind of bounced a little bit to the right. I was extremely pleased. But it was one where a lot of guys had been in there today, so the ball was sitting pretty."

He tapped in for birdie, then capitalized on the momentum shift by registering birdies at 16, with a 6-foot putt, and 18, closing his round of 65 by draining a 20-footer as the crowd again erupted.

"When you hear that roar, you can kind of - you're used to hearing some roars," he said. "When you hear one that's really loud, it's that extra kind of hit you in the head and you're like, wow, that's cool. The one on 18 today and the shot on 15 were the two that were just insane. I mean, a couple of the loudest roars I've ever had."

Spieth will attempt to become just the third wire-to-wire (no ties) winner of the tournament, which was last accomplished by Tim Norris in 1982, when the event was called the Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open at Wethersfield Country Club.

Weekley, a three-time winner on tour but with no victories since 2013, credits his switch to a cross-handed putting grip with improving his game.

"(My caddie and coach and I have) been doing a lot of work trying to get it to work out," he said. "I switched from conventional to left hand low. Trying to get myself more where I feel like I don't sway at it as much. Now I feel like I'm more solid with it, and it helps out a lot since I'm left-handed. I feel like I can lock it in there and make a good stroke now."

Daniel Berger, the 54-hole leader in 2016 who wound up tied for fifth, is three strokes behind Spieth at 9-under, followed by three players at 8-under: 2015 runnerup Paul Casey, David Lingmerth and rookie C.T. Pan, who posted the day's lowest round with a bogey-free 64.

Click here for the complete leaderboard, and here for Sunday's pairings and starting times.

Photo credits: Tim Jensen