The Tribune

THE first time Jordan Spieth saw Albany Golf Club, he predicted Bubba Watson would love the place because it looked so open off the tee.

On Saturday, with virtually no wind, Watson showed just how much he liked the south western New Providence course in the Hero World Challenge. He had seven birdies, holed a seven-iron for an eagle and matched the course record with a nine under par 63 to build a two-shot lead going into the final round.

The record he tied belonged to Paul Casey, who shot his 63 about 10 minutes earlier and was two shots behind.

Tee times were moved forward to avoid a forecast of thunderstorms in the afternoon. With little wind, there was no stopping a world-class field from having their way on the Ernie Els designed course.

''The key for me around this golf course, I think for everybody as we're seeing, when there's no wind - light wind - we can score,'' Watson said. ''We're all good players, don't get me wrong. We're all top 50 in the world. But with no wind, this golf course is a little bit easier to make birdies.''

Casey had nine of them in his first 13 holes - and that wasn't even enough to get in the lead.

''And then when I started to miss putts, I went back to pars again, which was a shame,'' Casey, the British golfer, said. ''Because obviously, Bubba ... I don't know where Bubba was. I wasn't thinking too much about a course record, but I was thinking it would have been nice to shoot 10 (under) or more.''

Watson was at 19-under and a three-round total of 197, one short of the 54-hole tournament record Spieth set last year on his way to a 10-shot victory at Isleworth.

This is the first time the World Challenge is being played in the Bahamas after one year in Florida and 14 years at Sherwood Country Club in California.

World number one Spieth, in a three-way tie for the lead with Jimmy Walker and Bill Haas at the start of the day, had a 68 and fell four shots behind.

''I shot 68 and got lapped,'' Spieth said. ''It was a day where you really needed to shoot lower. Par for the course is five under, especially in these conditions.''

Watson wasn't even planning to be in the Bahamas. He originally decided to skip the tournament because he didn't have a passport for his newly adopted daughter, Dakota, and because he is going to Thailand next week, the two-time Masters champion didn't want to be away from his kids for two weeks in a row.

But when Jason Day withdrew to stay at home in Ohio with his newborn daughter, Watson was able to rush through the documents and play.

Casey wants to support the Tiger Woods Foundation for its work with children and education. He also mentioned the world ranking points and the prize money ($1 million) for the winner. And he would like a trophy to show for his good play this year.

''So there's multiple reasons, about four really good reasons,'' he said about the importance of winning. ''Five if you count (Christmas) shopping.''

Even with the low scoring, Watson is not too far clear. Chris Kirk and Patrick Reed each had a 66 and were three shots behind, followed by Spieth and Haas, who also had a 68.

Woods is the tournament host and followed the final group throughout the front nine, occasionally giving good friend and NBC Sports reporter Notah Begay a lift.

Watson started the third round one shot behind and made up ground in a hurry with birdies on the first two holes. He faced a little wind from 168 yards in the fairway on the fourth and chose to take off a little on his seven-iron, which turned out to be a wise move when he holed it for eagle.

He didn't see it go in, and with public tickets limited there was not much of a gallery to cheer it. ''I heard a yell,'' he said. ''At least it wasn't my mom yelling. I heard somebody.''

Reed's run started on the inward with three straight birdies followed by an eagle on the par-five 15th to get back in the game.

''I finally made a putt and it just kind of propelled me from there,'' he said.

Spieth is playing his final round of the year on Sunday, and he said he would fire at every flag. ''It will be a sprint,'' he said. ''And then relief.''

The first group tees of at 11.30am on Sunday with the leaders Watson and Casey last out at 12.50pm.