Carlos Ortiz in Position for 2nd Career Win, Co-Leads at Farmers

Carlos Ortiz set out to have a big day on Saturday at the Farmers Insurance Open. Turns out, it was an ideal day and he’s now in fine position with one round left at Torrey Pines.

Ortiz entered Saturday’s round in a tie for 21st place overall. He was 4-under par through two rounds and sat four shots behind the leaders. Ideally for Ortiz, he could cut have cut into the deficit and given himself a chance to win on Sunday. But Ortiz did even better than that.

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His round didn’t appear to be anything too special early on. He opened with pars on the first two holes, both par fours. Then, on the par-3 third hole, Ortiz got into red figures. His tee shot stuck about 10 feet from the hole and he made the putt to get to 1-under.

However, Ortiz could not carry the momentum from that bogey into the following few holes. He would par numbers four, five, six and seven to stay at 1-under par.

Then, on the par-3 eighth hole, Ortiz hit another outstanding tee shot, this one to within five feet. Again, he made a birdie on a par thee and he was 2-under par. That’s where he finished his front nine.

Ortiz really got his round going on the back nine on Saturday.

On the par-4 10th hole, Ortiz nestled his second shot about seven feet from the cup. He would make the putt to get to 3-under on his round.

He slipped back a bit with a bogey on the 11th hole. But Ortiz would par the 12th, then birdie the 13th to get back to 3-under on his round.

Ortiz parred the 14th hole just before the three-hole stretch that buoyed his day. First, he birdied the par-4 15th with a 12-foot birdie putt. Then, he birdied the par-3 16th with a three-footer. And he made it three in a row by making a long putt, nearly 40 feet, on the par-4 17th. That got him to 6-under on his round and 10-under for the tournament.

Turns out, that would be enough for Ortiz to share the lead with 18 holes to play. He’s tied with 36-hole leader Patrick Reed with one round remaining. A group of five players, including Viktor Hovland, Jon Rahm and Adam Scott, sits two shots back.

Ortiz will be looking for his second victory of the season, after winning at the Houston Open in November. It would also be his second career victory, if he can hold off Reed, Rahm and the rest on Sunday.