The winds of change certainly blew the right direction for Matt Jones on Saturday.
During Friday’s second round of the Bermuda Championship, the Sydney product battled tough conditions to finish at even par for the day and 3-under after two rounds, placing well back in the standings.
What a difference a few hours, and a change in breeze direction, can make.
“There is a lot of wind. Not quite as much as yesterday, but we had a lot of different clubs today than yesterday,” Jones said. “I think it’s a very different golf course. It’s still playable, and the rules officials have done a great job of setting up the golf course. So if you can control your golf ball, you can still shoot a number.”
Jones put that control on display on Saturday, posting a 5-under 66 to pull into a tie for fifth at 8-under overall, just two shots back of leader Doc Redman.
After recording four bogeys during the second round, Jones went bogey-free on Saturday, notching three birdies through the first seven holes. That included a tone-setting birdie on the first, a hole he bogeyed the previous day.
“I’ll definitely take not making a bogey. I had a few good par saves out there, which was important because it was hard to get distance control right,” Jones said. “I had a few 10-footers for par that I made. I’d always much prefer to make a par to keep a round going, that always seems to be a good thing for me.”
Today's Round 3 forecast @Bermuda_Champ: still windy. 💨 pic.twitter.com/6YuGDOg72M
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 31, 2020
One of those 10-footers came at No. 8, where the par-3 resulted in him shooting a bogey on Thursday and a par on Friday. After notching back-to-back birdies on Nos. 6 and 7, Jones was hoping to avoid losing momentum on the hole.
“It’s a tough pin to get back to straight downwind and it came up – I probably had a 40-footer and I left it 10 feet short and it was a good putt,” Jones said. “At that point I was 3-under and I knew that was to keep my round going, which was great.”
Jones now puts himself in a position to pick up his second all-time PGA TOUR win. His previous victory came after outlasting Matt Kuchar in a playoff to capture the Houston Open back in 2014.
With a small contingent of fans allowed to watch the action live in Bermuda, Jones is hoping to hear their applause on Sunday through the blustery gusts.
“That’s a long way off. There’s plenty of holes left, a lot can happen until then,” Jones said. “And it’s actually, it’s nice to have fans out here cheering occasionally. It’s very nice and it’s going to get bigger next week when we have more fans. It’s great.”
