Noren grabs Torrey Pines lead

SAN DIEGO — Alex Noren of Sweden has all the credentials to be on the fringe of the elite in golf. He is a nine-time winner on the European Tour, including the flagship BMW PGA Championship, and he cracked the world’s top 10 when he won four times in 2016.

Now he has a chance to make his mark in America. Noren surged on the closing stretch as so many challengers crumbled Saturday in the Farmers Insurance Open. He bounced back from a double bogey with three birdies over the final six holes for a 3-under-par 69 and a one-shot lead going into the final round at Torrey Pines.

“To win would be very, very big for my confidence, I think,” Noren said. “And playing around these courses … we’re going to have the U.S. Open here in a few years, so it would be massive.”

Even as he took his first 54-hole lead in his first PGA Tour event as a member, it was easy to overlook the 35-year-old Swede.

For starters, Tiger Woods takes up almost all the attention. Woods was

at his scrambling best in the third round. He hit only three fairways, had only one birdie putt on nine holes and still managed a 70. Woods was eight shots behind.

Beyond golf ’s top attraction was the long list of players chasing Noren.

Two dozen players were separated by five shots going into the final round. That started with Ryan Palmer, who lost momentum from his 45-foot eagle by making two late bogeys and a lazy swing with a wedge that kept him from a good chance at birdie on the 18th.

And it still includes Jon Rahm, who hit into the water front the green on the par-5 closing hole and took double bogey for a 75.

■ LPGA: At Paradise Island, Bahamas, Brooke Henderson birdied the par-5 18th hole and had a one-stroke lead over top-ranked Shanshan Feng in the suspended second round of the wind-swept Pure Silk-Bahamas Classic.

Henderson shot an even-par 73 to get to 5-under 141 overall. Feng had nine holes left when play was suspended because of darkness.

Las Vegas resident Danielle Kang and Lexi Thompson were among five players tied at 3 under.

■ European PGA: At Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Rory McIlroy was within sight of a first title in 17 months after the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic, where he was one shot behind surprise leader Li Haotong.

The four-time major champion from Northern Ireland had five birdies on the back nine for a 4-under 68 and a 19-under 197 overall at Emirates Golf Club. Li, the world’s highest-ranked Chinese male player at No. 60, shot a bogey-free 64.