NORTON --- Louis Oosthuizen, who started the day at 11-under and one shot behind second-round leader Rory McIlroy (12-under), surged to an early third-round lead in the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston.
Oosthuizen, paired with McIlroy, strung together birdies on four of his first six holes, including three in a row on the par 4s at Nos. 4 through 6 to erase McIlroy’s two-shot lead and take a one-shot lead over his playing partner at 15-under.
Oosthuizen had a hot putter when he rolled in a 7-foot birdie putt on the 295-yard 4th, and made back-to-back 20-footers on the 461-yard 5th and the 478-yard 6th, which enabled him to gain a one-stroke lead over McIlroy.
Tiger Woods, who started the day in a in a two-way tie for third with Ryan Moore at 10-under, lurked three shots back in third at 12-under after he made birdies at Nos. 5 and 7.
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Dustin Johnson, who started the third round in a three-way tie for 12th at 7-under, made a strong move with birdies on Nos. 2, 4, 7, 9, and 10 to offset a bogey on No. 6.
Charlie Hoffman, winner of the 2010 Deutsche Bank Championship, started out in a two-way tie for 10th at 8-under, but climbed to a three-way tie for 10th with Jason Dufner and Ryan Moore at 10-under after he overcame a bogey on No. 3 with birdies on Nos. 7 and 10.
The most surprising round, however, was submitted earlier in the day when Keegan Bradley, the local favorite from Woodstock, Vt., shot an 8-under 63 to walk off the course tied for 15th after 54 holes. This after Bradley narrowly made the cut (2-over) when he shot a 2-over 73 on Saturday, salvaging his round with back-to-back birdies on his last two finishing holes at Nos. 8 and 9.