Barclays: Bergen County’s Hoffmann catapults up leaderboard with 66
AUGUST 23, 2014, 3:22 PM LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 2014, 11:48 PM
BY ANDY VASQUEZ
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
PARAMUS — They followed Morgan Hoffmann around by the hundreds Saturday at The Barclays.
There were fans, friends, former classmates and family — all of them here to watch the young pro from Bergen County. The crowd, and the support grew with every hole and every birdie, reaching its crescendo at the par-4 18th, where Hoffmann tipped his cap and waved.
“Guess I feel like Tiger around here,” Hoffmann said. “Which is a pretty cool experience.”
If he keeps playing this way, the experience could become downright magical.
Several familiar faces jockeyed for position atop the leaderboard at Ridgewood Country Club in the third round, but nobody made a bigger move than the 25-year-old from Wyckoff.
Hoffmann shot a 5-under-par 66, the low round of the day, to catapult himself up the leaderboard. He’s in a tie for fourth place at 7-under par, trailing leaders Jim Furyk and Jason Day by two shots.
Hoffmann earned himself a spot in today’s penultimate group with Hunter Mahan (8-under), and in the process set up a
dream scenario: When he steps onto the first tee at 1:55 p.m. today, Hoffmann will be gunning for his first PGA Tour win in his own back yard, in front of the people who have watched him grow up as a person and a golfer.
“It’s actually been really hard to not look into the crowd, because I want to and go say hi to everybody,” said Hoffmann, who won two golf state titles at Ramapo High School, “but I need to stay focused, and hopefully catch up [with friends] after.”
He’ll need to be fully focused today, considering how tight the leaderboard is, what’s at stake and who he’s chasing. Eight players are within two shots of the leaders, and 15 are three shots back or less.
Furyk, the No. 6 golfer in the world, shot a 2-under 69, grabbing a share of the lead with two birdies on his final nine holes Saturday.
“It’s a stacked leaderboard,” Furyk said. “There are a ton of players within three shots of the lead, so my goal really is to go out there and kind of not look at the leaderboard, just play my own game.”
Day, No. 9 in the world, shot a 3-under 68, recovering from a double-bogey seven on the par 5 13th after losing his ball in the mounds and tall grass.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/sports/barclays-bergen-county-s-hoffmann-catapults-up-leaderboard-with-66-1.1072599#sthash.mPbY269j.dpuf