Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia share four-shot lead at Honda Classic

On the PGA Tour, it’s not every day that a player takes a quadruple-bogey on a hole and still finishes in a tie for the tournament lead.

At the Honda Classic on Saturday, that’s exactly what Adam Scott somehow accomplished — feeling bad about his 7 on the par-3 15th and feeling good about what was otherwise a superb round.

Scott’s quadruple bogey was a dubious feat that even somewhat befuddled him as he shot 4-under-par 66 for the day and posted 9-under 201 through three rounds. The quadruple tainted, but could not ruin, a day of precise shot-making that included eight birdies on the Champion Course at PGA National Resort & Spa.

The beneficiary of Scott’s one-hole tragedy: Sergio Garcia.

The Spaniard put together a 3-under 67 to match Scott’s 201 total and joined him at the top of the leaderboard.

“I guess that’s why they call it the Bear Trap,” Scott said of holes 15, 16 and 17. “No. 15 got me good [Saturday].”

The Bear Trap on the Champion Course is named after Jack Nicklaus, the man who is nicknamed the Golden Bear and helped design the three holes.

“I’ve experienced things along these lines plenty of times in this game,” Scott said. “And you know, I didn’t hit too many bad shots to make that 7. That’s how challenging holes like 15, 16 and 17 are.”

Scott’s 7, which will leave many a hacker happily saying he or she could do better, came in this fashion:

Strokes 1-2: Scott’s tee shot of 171 yards to the pin comes up short and slightly right into the water, penalty stroke; Strokes 3-4: From the drop zone, 118 yards to the pin, his ball hits the green and rolls through it and trickles into the water, penalty stroke; Stroke 5: From drop zone again, Scott’s ball lands on the green and stops 10 feet from the pin; Stroke 6: Putt misses. Stroke 7: Scott makes his putt of 18 inches.

Agony finally over.

While playing the hole, Scott just shook his head and even appeared to half-smile.

Explaining that unexpected smile, he good-naturedly said, “What else can you do?”

And his thoughts while playing the hole: “I was just trying to keep a ball dry.”

Scott can’t argue that he wasn’t warned about the difficulty of the Bear Trap. Near the 15th tee there is a huge facsimile of a bear, and next to it stands a plaque that ominously reads, “IT SHOULD BE WON OR LOST RIGHT HERE.”

Scott learned in the harshest of ways the truth of those words.

And, as he put it, “I’m disappointed not to have walked out of here and shot 62 or something, but it might be Sunday I can do that.”

Not looking back but moving forward, Scott said he will be ready to play and battle Garcia, a friend, in Sunday’s final round.

“I think we’re both pretty desperate to have a win Sunday after putting ourselves in this position,” Scott said. “Hopefully, we both play well, and it’s a good show.”

Scott and Garcia will be battling each other but also will keep a wary eye on third-place Blayne Barber (69-205), and also Justin Thomas (68-206) and Rickie Fowler (74-206), who are in a tie for fourth.

Fowler, the leader after two rounds, had a tough outing Saturday. After going bogey-free for the first two days, the streak was broken on the third hole. Fowler then added three more bogeys the rest of the way.

“Struggling on the greens,” Fowler said. “With nothing going in, it’s hard to get any momentum or anything going.”

But Fowler was not ready to concede that the final round will come down to a two-man show between Scott and Garcia.

What does Fowler need to do to win?

“Just a solid round of golf and be in good position,” he said. “But, obviously, I’m a little further back than I would have liked to be.”

This story was originally published February 27, 2016 at 11:52 PM with the headline "Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia share four-shot lead at Honda Classic."