Hoffman, Kisner share lead
McIlroy, Fowler fire 65s to climb into Bay Hill contention.
Charley Hoffman finished a lot better than he started, closing with three straight birdies for a 1-under 71 that allowed him to catch Kevin Kisner for a share of the lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando.
Hoffman opened with two bad bunker shots and two bogeys, and his fourth bogey of the round dropped him four shots behind with four holes to play. He wound up in a tie with two solid shots and one big putt.
From the trampled rough left of the 18th fairway, slightly blocked by a tree, Hoffman chased a 7-iron up the firm turf of Bay Hill all the way to the fringe, 70 feet from the hole. He figured two putts and a par would leave him only one shot behind.
And then he holed it, setting off one of the loudest cheers of the day.
“Stole one on 18,” Hoffman said.
Kisner, starting to find his form at just the right time, made three birdies around the turn to seize control and putted for birdie on all but two holes. But on the 18th hole, his putt from the fringe down toward the cup ran about 6 feet by and he wound up three-putting for bogey and a 68.
They were at 11-under 205, three shots clear of Tyrrell Hatton (67), Marc Leishman (71) and Matt Fitzpatrick (72).
Rory McIlroy, who started the weekend 11 shots out of the lead, birdied his last two holes for a 65 and climbed back into contention. He was five shots behind. Rickie Fowler, also playing early before the afternoon breeze picked up, also shot a 65 and was six behind.
Kisner for so long looked to have a chance to create a big cushion. He got there with a 7-iron into 10 feet on the par-3 second, an 8-iron to 4 feet right of the flag on the eighth and a lob wedge that spun back near the hole for another short birdie putt on No. 10.
Kisner had birdie chances inside 20 feet on four of the next five holes and couldn’t convert them, and his eagle putt from just over 20 feet on the par-5 16th was short.
Along with the trio who were three shots back, Valspar Championship winner Adam Hadwin and former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover were four shots behind. And perhaps the most daunting name was McIlroy, hopeful of finding his form with the Masters around the corner.
“At least I’ve given myself a decent chance tomorrow,” McIlroy said.
Champions:
Steve Stricker shot a 10-under 63 in hot conditions to take a three-stroke lead in the Tucson (Ariz.) Conquistadores Classic, putting him in position to win in his senior debut.
Stricker is trying to become the 19th player to win in their first start on the 50-and-over and first since Miguel Angel Jimenez in the 2014 Greater Gwinnett Championship.
Tom Lehman was second after a 67. First-round leader Fred Couples had a 70 to fall into a tie for third with Kevin Sutherland (65) at 11 under.
Anna Nordqvist shot a tournament-record 11-under 61 to take a two-stroke lead over Stacy Lewis and Ariya Jutanugarn into the final round of the Bank of Hope Founders Cup in Phoenix.
Lewis and Jutanugarn each shot 66 playing together for the third straight day. Playing in record 95-degree heat at Desert Ridge, Nordqvist broke the tournament 54-hole record of 19 under set by Ai Miyazato in 2013.
Needing to hole her second shot on the par-4 18th to shoot 59, Nordqvist hit left of the pin and went through the green to the edge of the grandstand. She took a drop and nearly made her birdie try from the fringe.
LPGA Tour:
Cam Atkinson scored 79 seconds into overtime. Oliver Bjorkstrand and Josh Anderson scored 14 minutes, 48 seconds apart in the second period for Columbus to tie the game.
Tomas Tatar scored twice, including the go-ahead goal early in the third period.
Oscar Lindberg had a goal and an assist, and Antti Raanta made 25 saves for the Rangers, who won for the seventh time in their past eight road games.
Paul Byron and Alexander Radulov scored in the shootout. Andrew Shaw, Philip Danault and Brendan Gallagher scored in regulation for Montreal, and Carey Price finished with 28 saves.
Ryan Hartman scored with 17 seconds left in overtime. John Hayden scored his first NHL goal, and Corey Crawford stopped 25 of 26 shots for Chicago. Toronto’s Auston Matthews had a goal to snap a seven-game drought.
T.J. Oshie had three goals and an assist, Justin Williams and John Carlson scored early third-period goals, and the Capitals clinched a playoff berth. Nicklas Backstrom had four assists for Washington.
Jeff Skinner scored twice for the Hurricanes, who snapped the Predators’ three-game winning streak. Late Late Late Forward Evgeni Malkin (upper-body injury) is unlikely to play today against the Panthers.