When Billy Horschel took control of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in Ohio, Australians Cameron Smith and Jason Day had moments to celebrate.
Day, the 34-year-old former world No. 1, shot a four below to have one of the rounds of the day to return to the top 20.
The Australian enjoyed a few consecutive holes, including a 142-yard eagle at par-four-thirds.
His incredible start saw the Australian throw his arms in the air and smile happily and it was another sign that the former PGA Championship winner is continuing his comeback after considering giving up the game.
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His Australian teammate Cameron Smith had a round up and down and finished with a pair of 72 to be in the second half with eight less, five shots behind Horschel.
Smith, who is betting on becoming the second player to win the Player Championship and Memorial Tournament the same year, started the round with a backstroke.
But the short game wizard finished spectacularly, showing off his incredible chip with a sublime flop on the 18th.
“Amazing. Absolutely fantastic. Wow, ”said former main winner Nick Faldo.
“This is the lob of the year.
“Speaking of attitude, I decided to go for it and it really succeeds.”
His colleague added: “He is a genius. It threw him beyond all those little angles that could make him drastically correct. Go. ”
“He’ll be back tonight and someone will tell him, you know what Jack Nicklaus said about you on today’s show. He was asked who was the greatest shredder he’d ever seen and Jack said, ‘You Cam, you.’
The relaxed Australian was philosophical about his game after the round, but added that the best and the worst were approaching.
“Golf is a crazy game,” Smith said later. “You just have to be more discriminating with the help you render toward other people.
“There were a lot of bad things going on today, and I stayed there,” she said.
“He was able to have a couple of birds in that new nine, and I loved coming out with parity and staying in the tournament.”
Horschel fired a brilliant 65 from seven under par to take a five-shot lead after the third round.
Horschel’s excellent short game designed seven birds in an impeccable round without a bogey that saw the American climb to the top of the standings with 13 under 203 after 54 holes.
The world No. 35, who is chasing the seventh PGA Tour victory of his career, set the tone for a spectacular round after playing from the green on the first par-four hole from 44 feet to claim his first bird. .
Smith leads by a shot at the Memorial | 01:23
He rolled into a 10-foot bird putt in the fifth, and then caught another in the seventh when his 114-yard wedge landed four feet from the cup.
Another birdie followed in the eighth par-3 when Horschel’s starting throw left him with a six-foot putt, and three more birdies after the turn completed a magnificent round.
It marked a stark contrast to Horschel’s departure to the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial last week, when he didn’t make it to the weekend after losing the cut.
“I don’t like losing cuts, as simple as that. I don’t miss many, and when I do, I get angry,” said Horschel, who has only posted one bogey in three rounds this week.
“We didn’t play well, the swing wasn’t good enough and the putting wasn’t good enough.
“I just said this week, ‘Forget it. “I’m going to go out there and try to win this, and I’ll go back to the mentality that I’m one of the best players in the world and I can compete anywhere against anyone,” he added.
Billy Horschel shot a set below to take a five-shot lead in the Memorial tournament. Photo: Getty Images Source: AFP
Aaron Wise and second-round leader Smith lead the group of pursuers, five shots from the lead eight down.
Wise climbed up the standings with a 69, while Smith bounced back from a bogey-bogey start to advance to a 72.
Daniel Berger climbed 20 places in the standings and tied for fourth with Francesco Molinari and Jhonattan Vegas after 67.
Berger, Molinari and Vegas are six in the lead to seven less. Behind them is a group of five players under six that includes Patrick Cantlay, winner of the Memorial in 2019 and 2021, Chilean Joaquin Niemann, Luke List, Davis Riley and Denny McCarthy.
Rory McIlroy struggled to get a 73 from an envelope to fade from containment at four under, nine below the pace.