Late birdies lift Thomas at Zozo
With one good break and two good putts, Justin Thomas felt much better about his round of 5- under 67 on Saturday that gave him a one- shot lead over Jon Rahm in the Zozo Championship at Sherwood in Thousand Oaks, California.
Thomas, who trailed by two shots on the back nine, hit driver on the par- 5 16th that clanged off a sycamore tree and dropped into the rough instead of the creek. He holed a 10- foot birdie putt to tie for the lead, then followed with a 30foot birdie putt up the slope on the par- 3 17th.
Rahm finished some two hours earlier with a 63, which he figured at least would get him close to the lead and nearly kept him at the top until Thomas finished strong.
Thomas was at 19- under 197 in another week of low scoring on the PGA Tour, at least for most players. It was another grind for Tiger Woods, the Zozo Championship winner last year in Japan, who could only manage a 71. He’ll play the final round with Phil Mickelson, who opened with seven birdies in eight holes and played the rest of the way in 2 over for a 67.
FIGURE SKATING Chen wins Skate America again
Nathan Chen landed five quadruple jumps over two programs in his first competition in nine months, easily out- distancing Vincent Zhou and the rest of the field to win his record- tying fourth consecutive Skate America in Las Vegas. It also kept intact a streak of victories for Chen that dates to his fifth- place finish at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
The two- time world champion built a big lead in his short program Friday before a shaky free skate, where he had to double a planned quad Salchow and missed a triple axel. But it was still enough for Chen to win the free skate with 187.98 points and give him 299.15 total, while Zhou’s two second- place programs gave him 275.10 and the silver medal.
AUTO RACING Burton dashes Gragson’s hopes
Harrison Burton stormed past Noah Gragson in the final turn at Texas ( Fort Worth) Motor Speedway to win the Xfinity Series race and deny Gragson a spot in the championship round.
Gragson was one turn away from earning an automatic berth in the title- deciding finale but had to settle for a second- place finish. Gragson entered the race last in the playoff rankings, 33 points below the cutline and needing a victory to advance.
Burton won for the third time this season in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing but was eliminated from title contention in the first round.
BOXING Fury will fight Dec. 5
WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury plans to fight in London on Dec. 5 against an opponent yet to be determined.
Fury and his co- promoter Frank Warren recently expressed doubt that a third fight with American Deontay Wilder would happen in 2020. Fury claimed the WBC belt off Wilder with a seventh- round stoppage in February, after their draw in 2018.