Tringale moves to the top at 3M
Golfer shoots 5-under 66 to grab a one-shot edge over Woodland, Mcnealy
Cameron Tringale made a short par putt on the treacherous par-5 18th hole at the 3M Open for a 5under 66 and a one-stroke lead Saturday over Gary Woodland and Maverick Mcnealy.
Tringale, who tied for third last year at the TPC Twin Cities, eagled the par-5 12th and had three birdies in a bogey-free round. Winless on the PGA Tour, the 33-year-old topped the crowded leaderboard at 12-under 201.
Woodland overcame a double bogey on No. 1 with birdies on five of his next six holes in a 67. Mcnealy had a bogey-free 68.
Pat Perez shot a 66 to join an eight-way tie for fourth, two shots off the lead. Four players were three strokes back. Louis Oosthuizen, the highest-ranked player remaining at No. 9 in the world and in the Fedex Cup standings, was in a six-way tie for 16th place at only four shots behind.
During yet another unseasonable day of 90-plus-degree heat, the scores crept up throughout the afternoon with the thermometer as drier and breezier air affected the play.
Keith Mitchell had a record-tying seven straight birdies to start his round on his way to a 29 on the back nine. The front nine? He posted a 37 for a 66 that left him four strokes behind Tringale. Rickie Fowler birdied six of his first 10 holes, before a triple bogey on the 18th left him with a 70 and a tie for 29th in a six-stroke deficit.
The mini-lake in front of the 18th hole swallowed up a lot of balls. It’s currently ranked as the hardest par 5 on the PGA Tour. There were nine bogeys and 12 scores worse than that Saturday.
Mitchell matched Juan Sebastian
Munoz (2020), Brandt Snedeker (2007) and Joe Durant (2005) with seven birdies in a row to begin the round.
LPGA: The day after making golfing history, Jeongeun Lee6 extended her Evian Championship lead to five strokes with a 3-underpar 68 in the third round. She’s at 18 under overall and the nearest challenger is teenage American Yealimi Noh at 13 under, who carded a 4-under 67. The 2015 champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand posted a 68 and was one shot behind the 19-year-old Noh. South Korean Minjee Lee’s 6-under 65 moved her into a three-way tie for fourth at 11 under with Japan’s Ayaka Furue and Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn, who drifted back with a 1-over 72. On Friday, Lee6 tied the golf majors record for the lowest round ever by a female or male with a 10-under 61, while her history-making 36-hole score of 127 was the lowest in a major, beating the 128 by Brooks Koepka at the 2019 U.S.
PGA Championship. But on Saturday Lee6 had a mixed bag of three bogeys, four birdies and an eagle.
Champions: Stephen Dodd equaled the lowest round in the history of the Senior British Open by shooting an 8-under 62 to take a two-stroke lead after three rounds. The Welshman made nine birdies in a round that also tied Sunningdale’s Old Course record that was set by Nick Faldo at the 1986 European Open and then tied by Shane Lowry in British Open qualifying in 2010. Jerry Kelly was two shots back after
carding a 68 and day two leader Darren Clarke (70) slipped three strokes off the lead in the final senior major championship of the year. Defending champion Bernhard Langer (70) was four shots off the pace with Miguel Angel Jimenez (67) and Paul Broadhurst (69). Jimenez was the winner in 2018, and Broadhurst won two years before that.
European PGA: Nacho Elvira will take a six-shot lead into the final round of the
Wales Open after a 5-under-par 66 put him in control at 16 under. “It’s a good feeling,” he said. “But to be honest, I don’t care at the moment. I struggled a bit the last year, year and a half, not with form but it’s golf — mentally, a little bit physically, battling with an injury. I’m happy playing golf again and being in the moment. To be in contention is a gift.” The Spaniard has not had a top 10 in more than two years and arrived at Celtic Manor having made just two of his past 11 cuts. Elvira bogeyed the first hole after starting with a two-shot advantage but responded with birdies on the second, fifth, ninth, 11th, 14th and 17th. England’s Callum Shinkwin matched the lowest round of the week with a 63 on day three but may need to repeat that feat if he is to have a chance of reining in the leader, who is looking for his first win on the European Tour. Shinkwin used his distance to take advantage of the four par-5s and the driveable par-4 15th, with a 30-foot putt on the l7th bringing one of his three other gains. American Chase Hanna, South African Justin Harding and Finn Mikko Korhonen were alongside Shinkwin at 10 under.