McGreevy eyes grandstand finish

Max McGreevy extended his advantage to six shots with another bogey-free round where he signed for a six-under-par 65 at the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament on Saturday.

With 18 holes remaining in the third last event on the 2024 JGTO season, the 29-year-old American – playing on a sponsor’s invitation – is the man to catch with Ryotaro Nagano (64), the closest challenger in outright second place and Hideki Matsuyama (68) a further shot back in third place.
 
McGreevy started the penultimate round with a four-shot cushion and made another fast start with an opening birdie before adding three more on holes four, five and seven.
 
After turning in 32, he parred the next three holes before picking up further gains on holes 13 and 18 to compile a three-day total of 20-under-par 193.
 
"It was another solid round. I made the par putts I needed to, and that gave me the momentum for birdies later. My driver has not been as consistent as I wanted to, but my swing feels good. My short game has been strong, so I’ve been playing without much pressure so far,” said McGreevy.
 
Playing alongside crowd favourite Matsuyama, McGreevy may have been in awe of the 2021 Masters champion but knows he has an important task ahead.
 
“I was nervous on the first tee but relaxed as we played. Matsuyama talked to me, which helped calm my nerves. Playing with him in Japan is like a dream come true. 
 
“If we get paired again tomorrow, I’ll enjoy it to the fullest. Even just playing alongside Matsuyama in Japan has been an incredible honour. Winning this tournament would be the perfect way to cap an amazing week and fulfil my goal of coming here,” said the American.
 
Matsuyama, meanwhile, conceded it was a challenging day but aims to do better in the final round.
 
“It was a tough day. I hoped to build momentum after saving pars on holes six and seven and making a birdie on eight. But it didn’t quite come together the way I wanted. Max was pulling ahead, and I thought if I could close the gap to around five shots early, I would have a better chance. 
 
“Unfortunately, I couldn’t capitalise on it even after making birdies on 13 and 14. I missed my birdie putts on 15 and 16 and those cost the gap to be widened further. Tomorrow, I’ll aim to play better,” said the world No. 7.
 
McGreevy will get the opportunity to tee off alongside Matsuyama again as they start their final round at 10:01 am (local time) together with Nagano, who remains in contention for his JGTO breakthrough this week.
 
“I want to end my season on a high note and hopefully, I can do something special,” said the 36-year-old.
 
Leading third round scores
All Japanese nationals unless indicated otherwise 
 
193 - Max McGreevy (USA) 66-62-65
199 – Ryutaro Nagano 67-68-64
200 - Hideki Matsuyama 67-65-68
201 - Akshay Bhatia (USA) 66-68-67, Shaun Norris (RSA) 66-67-68
202 – Shunya Takeyasu 70-66-66, Ryosuke Kinoshita 66-70-66, Scott Vincent (ZIM) 69-67-66, Taiga Semikawa 67-65-70
 
Ends.