Notes: Justin Thomas continues hot play

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Justin Thomas has been around greatness this year.

One of his best friends is Jordan Spieth, and the two shared a house during this year's Masters Tournament, which the 21-year-old Spieth won in impressive fashion.

His roommate at his rented home in Jupiter, Fla., is Patrick Rodgers, the 22-year-old who tied Tiger Woods' mark of 11 collegiate wins at Stanford University and who opened the 13th Wells Fargo Championship with a pair of 68s to be tied for third entering the third round.

"I didn't really like seeing him kicking my butt like that so I was trying to get back up there," Thomas said.

Thomas a 22-year-old PGA Tour rookie who played at Alabama, shot a 7-under 65 Saturday to move into a tie for sixth at 9-under 207, nine strokes behind leader Rory McIlroy and a shot behind Rodgers, who shot a 70 Saturday.

The native of Louisville, Ky., already has six finishes in the top 12 in his rookie season and tied for 24th last week in The Players Championship, carding a 75 Sunday following a 65 in the third round.

"I didn't just come out here my first year to get a bunch of top-10s, I came out here to win, and I feel like I've put myself in good places but I really, really learned a lot," Thomas said. "Last week was huge. It was by far the biggest atmosphere and the biggest pressure I've played under. I'm excited."

Thomas' third round included a pair of eagles. He holed a 34-yard bunker shot on the fifth hole and holed a 24-foot putt on the par-5 seventh hole after a 336-yard drive and 197-yard approach shot.

Thomas also birdied the second and fourth holes to make the turn at 6-under 30, and managed a 1-under 35 on the back with three birdies and two bogeys, including one on the 18th hole.

Thomas is a big hitter despite his small 5-foot-10, 145-pound frame and waist size of 30-32.

"I felt like all week I could really, really go low out here especially because I can kind of cut some of these doglegs and take the holes on, par-5s I can reach," he said. "I was really just trying to kind of free-wheel it. Go out there and stay patient and fire."

Thomas and Rodgers got an ideal pairing Sunday. They are paired together in the third-to-last group at 1:25 p.m.

What could have been

For nine holes Saturday, it appeared the Wells Fargo might come down to the two marquee names in the tournament going head-to-head on Sunday.

Phil Mickelson and McIlroy both began the day tied for fifth and three strokes out of the lead, and both made early runs.

Mickelson, playing in the group ahead of McIlory, made four bogeys on the front nine to make the turn in a tie for the lead at 11 under, and that matched McIlroy's total through eight holes. But while McIlroy birdied the ninth to go ahead by a stroke and continued to pour in birdies on the back nine, Mickelson stalled.

He missed a 10-foot putt to bogey the 12th hole, birdied the 13th, missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 15th and had his title hopes dashed with a costly triple bogey on the 18th hole.

Lefty, a 42-time winner on the PGA Tour who is seeking his first win since the 2013 British Open, hit his drive into the creek to the left of the fairway, took a drop, hit his third shot into a downhill lie in a bunker, hit the bunker shot to the front fringe and missed a 5-foot putt for the triple-bogey 7.

Putting it in perspective

Phil Mickelson struggled with his putting early this season, and for the most part it has been improved over the past couple months.

Mickelson described how he has become a Picaso on the greens since a session with putting guru Dave Stockton at Augusta National Golf Club.

"I had a great hour or so with Stockton at the Masters and we just talked about kind of in my mind have like a painter [view]," Mickelson waxed, "just painting canvass and it just gets me out of the methodical science part of putting and more into the artistic mood."

Green Mile a test

If second-place Webb Simpson or anyone else can get close enough to Rory McIlroy through 15 holes Sunday, Quail Hollow's treacherous finish known as The Green Mile could play a huge factor in the outcome.

The 508-yard par-4 16th with water down the entire left side, peninsula-green par-3 17th that can stretch to 221 yards, and 493-yard par-4 18th with a creek winding down the left side and slightly uphill second shot.

The Green Mile is not only the toughest three-hole finish on the PGA Tour, but last year it was the toughest three-hole stretch at any point on any course during the tour season.

The three holes played a combined 1.055 over par in 2014. Augusta National's stretch of holes 10-12 was the second most difficult playing .976 over par.

McIlroy has played the three holes 1-over par this week with a double bogey on the 17th hole on Thursday and a birdie on the 16th hole Saturday. Simpson has played it even par with bogeys on 16 Thursday and 18 Friday, and birdies on 17 Thursday and Friday.

Early action

It was evident Saturday morning that low scores were attainable at Quail Hollow as Sean O'Hair and Justin Thomas each made two eagles and both got to 7 under in their rounds. Thomas eagled the par-5 fifth and seventh holes while O'Hair, the 2009 Wells Fargo champion, eagled the short par-4 eighth with a chip-in from 32 feet and the par-5 15th with a 254-yard approach to 18 feet.

Scott Pinckney had the first tee time and carded an early 6-under 66 without making a bogey.

This article was written by Alan Blondin from The Sun News and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.