Landry shares lead in congested field
SILVIS, Ill. — Cameron Tringale and Andrew Landry (Arkansas Razorbacks) topped the John Deere Classic leaderboard Saturday, with a half-dozen guys right behind them.
Winless on the PGA
Tour, Tringale shot a 6-under 65 to match Landry at 16-under 197 at TPC Deere Run. Landry had a 67. He won the Valero Texas Open last year for his
lone tour title.
“Some golf courses you can leaderboard watch, but
this is not one of them,” said Landry, with eight players within two shots of the lead. “You want to stay with your game plan.”
Bill Haas, the 2011 FedEx Cup champion, and Adam Schenk were a stroke back. Haas shot a 64, tying the best round of the day. Schenk had a 66.
Nick Watney also had a 64 to join 2016 winner Ryan Moore (65), Dylan Frattelli (65) and Vaughn Taylor (66) at 14 under. Chris Stroud (66), Lucas Glover (69) and Roger Sloan (67) were 13 under.
Second-round leader Jhonattan Vegas stumbled to a 76 and fell to 8 under.
Tringale bogeyed the first hole, but that only motivated him to post his lowest score of the tournament.
“The bogey on the first hole was a shot in the leg,” Tringale said. “But I was able to get out of there myself and birdie the next two, which gave me some momentum.”
Landry looked as if he was in trouble after bogeys on the 11th and 12th holes. He then birdied Nos. 16 and 17 — only to miss a 10-foot putt that would’ve given him the outright lead.
Haas, who hasn’t won since 2015, was a passenger in a car in February when driver and friend, Mark Gibello, was killed on a winding road outside Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. Gibello’s Ferrari clipped another car and slammed into a pole. Haas walked away largely unscathed.
Haas has struggled this season, finishing 48th or worse in each of his past six starts. He had seven birdies in a bogey-free third round.
“I don’t know if it ever leaves you. But at the same time, I’m just trying to be the best I can be out here,” Haas said.
Moore, who has five PGA wins, finished birdie-eagle-birdie.
Perhaps the biggest surprise on a day when so many players moved into position to win was that Vegas won’t be among them.
After just one bogey in his first 40 holes, Vegas missed an 8-foot putt for par on the 5th — and a pair of poorly-hit pitches at the par-4 sixth led to a double bogey. Vegas then stuck his tee shot on the par3 seventh hole within 5 feet of the cup before pushing his putt left.
Austin Cook (Razorbacks, Jonesboro) shot an even-par 71 on Saturday and is in a tie for 61st place at 4 under.