Thomas battles back in Korea, shares lead with Brown
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[October 21, 2017]
SEOUL (Reuters) - Justin Thomas
refused to be thrown off his game by a double bogey midway through
the third round of the $9.25 million CJ Cup in South Korea on
Saturday, carding a battling 70 to set the pace with Scott Brown at
the Nine Bridges course on Jeju island.
FedExCup champion Thomas coped much better with the blustery
conditions and undulating greens than he did on Friday when he
posted a two-over 74 and will go into the final round of the PGA
Tour's maiden regular season event in Korea full of confidence.
After hitting just over 50 percent of the fairways on Friday,
Thomas, who won his first major at the PGA Championship in August,
was solid with the driver in the third round, hitting 11 of 14
fairways and notching birdies at all four par-fives.

Despite dropping two shots at the eighth and another at the 10,
Thomas hit back quickly each time, picking up strokes at the ninth,
11th and 12th holes.
With gusty conditions expected again for Sunday's final round,
Thomas said keeping it tight was key.
"It's going to be tough but everyone has to play in it," he said in
a televised interview. "Really try to make as many pars as
possible."
Brown, whose only win on the PGA Tour came at the 2013 Puerto Rico
Open, let his concentration slip after the turn with two straight
bogeys on 10 and 11, but found his rhythm again down the closing
stretch to grab birdies at the 15th and 18th.
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Justin Thomas tees off on the first hole during the final round
singles matches of The President's Cup golf tournament at Liberty
National Golf Course. Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Anirban Lahiri (69) and Marc Leishman (71) are tied for third on
seven-under, with home hope Kim Whee three shots behind the leaders
after a 72. Kim is joined in fifth place by Cameron Smith (73) and
2009 U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover (74).
Another South Korean, An Byeong-hun, carded a day's best 67 to move
into contention on five-under on a difficult day when only five of
the 77 players out on the course shot below 70.
Joint overnight leader Luke List dropped back to eighth with a
four-over 76 while bogeys at 16 and 17 ruined the scorecard of Jason
Day, who was cruising along at three-under for the day before he hit
trouble. Day shot a 71 and is six shots back on three under.
(Reporting by Peter Rutherford; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
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