Ian Poulter, without a win in more than four years, birdied two of the final four holes to grab the third-round lead at the Puerto Rico Open on Saturday.
World No. 67 Poulter made a late decision to travel to the Caribbean island after missing out on a place in this week’s WGC-Dell Match Play event by one spot.
However, the Englishman is making his trip worthwhile; a 68 giving him an 11-under 205 total with one round left at Coco Beach.
Photo: AFP
The US’ Tony Finau, Jonathan Byrd and Steve Marino trail by one stroke.
Overnight leader Rafael Campos, seeking to become the first Puerto Rican to win a PGA Tour event since Chi Chi Rodriguez at the 1979 Tallahassee Open, kept his chances alive with a 72 to fall two shots behind.
Poulter, 40, is winless since the 2012 WGC-HSBC Championship in China.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been right there to have an opportunity to win a tournament,” he said. “I’ve got to take things slowly. I’m trying to improve my swing. I’m trying to improve my consistency on the course. There has been a lot of good stuff and lot of bad stuff as well. It’s about time to not allow the bad stuff to kick in, keep persevering, keep working on the swing and hopefully at some stage the adrenaline will kick in and get me across the line.”
American George McNeill, who started the day in second place, was disqualified after the round for having used a non-conforming club, tour officials said.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
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