List takes lead at Classic with Woods 7 shots back
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Luke List made birdie from the bunker on the final hole Saturday for a 4-under 66 and a one-shot lead in the Honda Classic as he goes after his first PGA Tour victory.
Right behind was Justin Thomas, the PGA Tour player of the year.
Still in the mix was Tiger Woods.
List bounced back from his only bogey of the round on the par-3 17th hole by blasting out of the bunker to tapin range on the par-5 18th to move past Thomas and Webb Simpson. This is the second time he’s had at least a share of the 54-hole lead. The other was at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi in the fall of 2016, which was held the same week as a World Golf Championship in Shanghai. List was at 7-under 203. Thomas was never far away from the lead, and the final hour changed everything. The PGA champion had three birdies over his last five holes for a 65 to match the low round of the toughest tournament this year on the PGA Tour.
Particularly impressive was that two of those birdies were on the par-3 15th and par-3 17th, the secondand third-toughest holes at PGA National on Saturday. He essentially hit the same shot, a cut 6-iron into the wind to right pins and made 15-footers.
Simpson, the former U.S.
Open champion who has not won in more than four years, played bogey-free for a 66, a card kept clean by a remarkable bunker save with an awkward stance behind the 15th green.
Woods broke 70 for the first time on the PGA Tour since August 2015 — a span of only 12 rounds because of three
back surgeries — and his 1-under 69 at least raised his hopes. He was seven back. “I’ve got a shot going into tomorrow,” Woods said.
Ten players were ahead of him.
List has the lead, though it probably won’t feel like one with six players separated by only three shots.