Little birdies go a Long’s way
Adam Long took over the lead with a stretch of three straight birdies on the back nine and finished with key par saves for an 8-under 64 and a two-shot lead Saturday in the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship.
Hudson Swafford had to settle for nothing but pars on the back nine for a 69 and was two shots behind.
“It’s nice when those days are like that where you’re just kind of feeling the putter and you’re making putts,” said Long, who one-putted nine of his last 10 holes. “I wasn’t thinking about a whole lot of things. I was just trying to make everything.”
Long, coming off a tie for 13th at Winged Foot last week in the U.S. Open, matched the low round of the day and will going for his second PGA Tour victory. His other was in January 2019 when he birdied the last hole of the Desert Classic to beat Phil Mickelson and Adam Hadwin.
He has a little more separation going into the final round in the Dominican Republic. Long was at 17-under 199, with only five other players within five shots of the lead.
Swafford was at 15 under and will be in the final group. Mackenzie Hughes of Canada twice chipped in for birdie late in his round of 67, leaving him three shots behind. Xinjun Zhang of China had a 68 and was at 13 under, while Nate Lashley (65) and Sean O’Hair (70) were five shots behind.
Long took off with five birdies in a six-hole stretch around the turn, and he really poured it on when Swafford began to stall. Along with birdies on both par 5s, Nos. 12 and 14, Long hit a tricky shot from a flyer lie in the rough on the 13th, and it came out perfectly to 8 feet pin-high for birdie.
He also caught a break on his one bad swing, a hook off the tee at the 16th that appeared to catch enough trees to settled about 5 yards away from the out-of-bounds stakes. He sent that right of the green and pitched beautifully to save par.
MLS: Colorado’s MLS game against Sporting Kansas City has been postponed after a Rapids player and three staff members tested positive for the coronavirus. A player for FC Cincinnati also tested positive and is in isolation, the team announced. The player, who was not identified, was symptomatic, the team said. The Rapids suspended training while the player and staff members who tested positive were isolated. They were not identified. The team has conducted additional testing and tracing.
NFL: The 49ers placed running back Tevin Coleman on injured reserve . ... Saints receiver Michael Thomas won’t play in Sunday night’s game against the Packers after he was ruled out for the second straight week with his high ankle sprain . ... Falcons rookie starting cornerback A.J. Terrell was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Saturday and will not be available for Sunday’s matchup against the Bears . ... The Seahawks promoted linebacker Shaquem Griffin from the practice squad to the active roster for Sunday’s game against the Cowboys.