Todd on path for WGC win
MEMPHIS — Winning a World Golf Championship event easily would be the biggest victory of Brendon Todd’s career. He has a recent reminder of how to best protect a lead in the final round — even if that memory is a bit painful.
Todd had a two-stroke lead going into the final round at the Travelers Championship in late June, only to shoot a 75 and tie for 11th. He shot a 1-under-par 69 on Saturday at the FedEx St. Jude Invitational to take a one-stroke lead into the final round at TPC Southwind.
Todd started the third round with a twostroke lead. He had five birdies and four bogeys to put him at 13-under 198 on a nearly perfect day with the temperature in the 70s. The 35-year-old former University of Georgia standout is looking for his fourth PGA Tour victory and third since last fall.
South Korea’s Byeong Hun An, who had four straight birdies on the back nine, shot a 66 and was second — a shot ahead of Rickie Fowler (69).
› TRUCKEE, Calif. — Branden Grace tested positive for the coronavirus Saturday, a double blow to the South African who was one birdie out of the lead at the Barracuda Championship and now can’t play this week at the PGA Championship in San Francisco.
Grace was two points out of the lead and in the penultimate pairing halfway through at Tahoe Mountain’s Old Greenwood Golf Course. He felt tired Friday night and thought it had to do with playing in altitude. He was tested to be sure, though, it came back positive and he withdrew.
Under PGA Tour guidelines, Grace has to isolate for 10 days and be without a fever for 24 hours before returning. The year’s first major championship starts Thursday at TPC Harding Park. Grace has played in every major dating to the 2014 British Open and holds the major championship record with a 62 in the 2017 British Open.
Troy Merritt made two late birdies Saturday to take a four-point lead into the final round of the PGA Tour’s lone modified Stableford scoring event. Maverick McNealy and Emiliano Grillo were tied for second.
› BIRMINGHAM, England — Sam Horsfield took just a one-shot lead into the final day of the Hero Open despite leading by six strokes at one stage in the third round of the European Tour’s latest stop in England.
After holding a share of the 36-hole lead, the Englishman made five birdies on the front nine and looked in total control at the Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel and Country Club on Saturday.
Horsfield made just one more birdie on the way home, though, giving up three bogeys and a double to sign for a 1-under 71 and a 14-under 202 total that left him one shot ahead of Wales’ Oliver Farr (67), Danish teenager Rasmus Hojgaard (66) and Finland’s Mikko Korhonen (67).
› GRAND BLANC, Mich. — Brett Quigley was so excited to be competing again he could barely break par. He settled down for an 8-under 64 and a one-shot lead entering the final round of the Ally Challenge, the first PGA Tour Champions event in five months.
Quigley played bogey-free to move to 11-under 133 at Warwick Hills, where Monday qualifier Carlos Franco of Paraguay also had a 64 with two eagles and was one shot behind in second, tied with Tommy Armour II (68) and Jim Furyk (66), who is making his debut on the 50-and-older circuit.
Quigley, a 50-year-old American, is trying to win for the second time this year on the senior circuit. He won a new tournament in Morocco on Feb. 1, and just more than a month later, the tour shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He couldn’t wait to get started again, and then he promptly bogeyed his opening hole on Friday on his way to a 69. Saturday, obviously, went much more smoothly.
› TOLEDO, Ohio — Danielle Kang returned from a 45-minute rain delay with two straight birdies. By the end of the second round, she was happy to have even a share of the lead in the LPGA Drive On Championship.
The 27-year-old American with one each of the past three years followed her backto-back birdies with three straight bogeys, another birdie and finally a four-foot par on the final hole to salvage a 1-over 73 at Inverness Club. That had her tied with France’s Celine Boutier (71) and England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff (72) at 5-under 139 entering the final round of the LPGA Tour’s first event since the Women’s Australian Open on Feb. 16.
The course, already a tough test that will host the Solheim Cup next year, was even more of a challenge in wet weather and a little more wind. Only two players broke 70, including Sarah Schmelzel (69), who was tied with Japan’s Yui Kawamoto for fourth at 3 under.