• BMW Championship

Furyk out in front at BMW Championship

ESPN staff
September 14, 2013
Jim Furyk claimed the outright lead after the third round © Getty Images
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Jim Furyk showed no signs of letting his historic achievement derail his hopes of winning the BMW Championship as he leads by one shot over Steve Stricker heading into the final round.

After becoming the sixth man in the history of the PGA Tour to shoot a round of 59 on Friday at Conway Farms, Furyk kept his composure to be the outright leader on 13-under after a two-under-69 gave him the advantage.

A bogey on the par-4 fourth arrived after three straight pars, but Furyk began to find his feet with three birdies on the spin to build a lead. A birdie on the par-4 15th saw him go to three-under for his round, but he missed the opportunity to put some distance between himself and Stricker as he bogeyed his final hole.

Stricker scored a seven-under-64 to move up the leaderboard and put himself into contention for the victory, registering six birdies and an eagle. Brandt Snedeker is within two shots of Furyk on 11-under, and Zach Johnson is just three shots off the lead.

World No. 1 Tiger Woods, who was hit with a two-stroke penalty after moving a stick near his ball causing it to move, is nine-under after scoring a five-under-66, carding seven birdies in total, six of those consecutively in-between the sixth and 12th holes to climb the leaderboard.

Matt Kuchar came close to joining Furyk in the '59' club after he scored a 10-under-61 and is five-under for the tournament, while Luke Donald is a shot ahead on six-under after a round of 67.

Reigning champion Rory McIlroy hit a three-under-68 in what was by far his best display at the tournament. The Northern Irishman quickly finished his round in two-and-a-half hours to end on 10-over.

"The goal was to play as fast as I could. It took me longer to sign autographs than it did to play the last hole," McIlroy joked after his round. "When you're going out there trying to play fast and end up shooting a decent score maybe it's an indication I'm trying a little too hard sometimes."

US Open champion Justin Rose finished on two-under, but received a strange penalty after hitting a divot out of his practice swing that moved his ball on the 14th hole.

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