Three share top spot
Homa, Finau, Kim 15 under at American Express event
Max Homa has been tearing up the Stadium Course at The American Express for two days. If he can do it one more time Sunday, the Southern California native could be raising his second career PGA Tour trophy.
Homa made nine birdies and shrugged off a double bogey on the way to a 7under 65 in the third round Saturday, joining Tony Finau and Si Woo Kim atop the leaderboard at 15-under 201.
Richy Werenski also shot a 65 and moved within a shot of the lead on the Stadium Course at PGA West near Palm Springs.
Scotland’s Russell Knox shot the day’s low round with a 64 — one stroke off the course record — to join Brian Harman and Emiliano Grillo at 13 under.
Finau and Kim both shot 67. Kim was bogey-free, while the streakier Finau bounced back from a double bogey on the 13th with three consecutive birdies.
The field played through sparse desert rain in the afternoon. Precipitation finally fell in earnest when the final group reached the 18th hole, with Finau and Kim forced to pull out their umbrellas.
Second-round leader Sungjae Im struggled to a 73, leaving him five shots off the lead after three bogeys and a triple bogey on the ninth after putting two straight shots in the water. Firstround leader Brandon Hagy shot a 72 and was even with Im at 10 under.
European PGA: Rory Mcilroy will take a oneshot lead into the final round of the season-opening Abu Dhabi Championship after posting a 5-under 67. Mcilroy holed out from 73 yards to eagle the 10th and added five birdies to go to 13 under, wrestling control of the tournament from Tyrrell Hatton (71), who trails by a shot. “I thought I did well today. Obviously had that big stroke of luck on 10, the ball hitting the pin and going in,” the four-time major champion said. “Sometimes that’s what you need in golf tournaments to be in contention and to end up winning is those little strokes of luck every now and again.” Hatton held a 5-shot lead when play was halted Friday because of fading light, but he finished the second round up by just a shot early Saturday before the third round started. Tommy Fleetwood (67) had six birdies to put himself two shots behind Mcilroy and alone in third place. He rolled in a putt on the 12th from nearly 50 feet.
LPGA: Danielle Kang played great, tying her career low with an 8-under 63 and protecting her lead in the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions. Jessica Korda owned the day. A sizzling 28 on the back nine — 9-under par — at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando lifted Korda to an 11-under 60, just one shot off the LPGA Tour scoring mark. Kang was at 21-under 192 through three bogey-free rounds. Her total tied an LPGA mark for raw score through 54 holes (shared by three others) and shattered the tournament’s 54-hole record (200). She will take a two-shot lead over Korda into Sunday in what sets up as a terrific shootout for the LPGA’S season opener: Kang leads Jessica Korda by two and Nelly Korda (67) by six. South Korea’s In Gee Chun (67) sits fourth, eight shots behind the leader.