Canadian joins elite group as Lee falters
It wasn’t Kiwi Danny Lee’s day at the CareerBuilder Challenge, but it certainly was a day to remember for Canadian Adam Hadwin.
The 29-year-old fired a remarkable 13 under-par 59 on Saturday (Sunday NZ Time) to become just the fourth player in PGA Tour history to shoot a 59 on a par 72 course.
Hadwin’s scorching third round included 13 birdies and, on top of his first round 71 and second round 69, have him 17 under-par, one shot clear of second placed Dominic Bozzelli with a round to play.
Ranked 196th in the world, Hadwin tied Chip Beck’s PGA Tour record for most birdies in a round. He had a chance to break it on the 18th, but had to settle for par.
But while Hadwin was tearing it up on his way to the top of the leaderboard in California, Lee was doing quite the opposite.
Lee went into the day tied for second at 13 under-par, but a sloppy four over-par 76 resulted in him skidding all the way down to a share of 21st.
A day after surprising even himself with an early-season 64, Lee’s latest card was hard on the eyes.
He mostly offset three bogeys with a couple of birdies, but a triple bogey on the par four18th sunk him.
Fellow Kiwi Steven Alker had a better day.
He improved 18 spots and joined Lee at nine under-par and shared for 21st, on the back of a four under-par round.
Alker, who shot rounds of 69 and 70 to ensure he was in action during the weekend, nailed four birdies on the front nine, before coupling two more on the back nine with two bogeys.
Kiwi Tim Wilkinson is tied for 43rd two shots back.
Behind second-placed Bozzelli, four more players - Hudson Swafford, Brian Harmon, Bud Cauley and Chad Campbell - are a further shot back in the chasing pack.