Romero: seven birtdies
Andres Romero enjoyed an "almost perfect" third round of 65 at Oakland Hills to put himself right in the thick of contention at the USPGA.
An early starter at seven-over-par at the halfway stage, the Argentinian had completed his round before the storms which delayed the leaders' entry into the third-round fray.
He rolled in seven birdies and just two bogeys, equalling the course record at the Detroit venue posted by eight other players, including Jack Nicklaus at the 1991 US Senior Open and most recently Tom Lehman at the 1996 US Open.
Excellent
"I played an excellent round, almost perfect," Romero said through an interpreter, as the rain began to fall heavily outside.
"Yesterday I finished very nice with my round and now after this 18 holes I can't believe it, I have a chance for tomorrow and, well, I have to wait, but it's great to be here."
It all left the 27-year-old regretting a second-round, quadruple-bogey eight at the 16th, a hole he birdied 24 hours later.
"I played a great first shot, then a perfect 9-iron from 140 yards," he said, recalling his Friday meltdown.
"It bounced in the front of the green, but like the wind blows just in the moment and it went down to the water.
"Then again I had tried to make a good shot, but again a lot of back spin, again to the water. And after that I got mad and I lost concentration for the rest of the round.
"I couldn't come back after that eight. I made a double bogey at the 18th because I was mad. And then I was almost fighting for the lead in the tournament and suddenly I was trying to make the cut, so I was going mad the rest of the round."
Positive
Romero suffered a similar fate 13 months ago at Carnoustie's 17th in the Open Championship, but he said that disappointment had been a positive experience.
"I learned a lot after that week. I won in Germany (at the next week's Deutsche Bank Players' Championship) and the following week I finished sixth in the Bridgestone and that helped me a lot not to, I don't know, not to go down after that loss.
"That helped me a lot and after that. It was a very good experience after that Open."
