Snedeker leads season-opening Safeway Open
NAPA, Calif. – Brandt Snedeker birdied the final three holes Saturday to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the PGA Tour’s season-opening Safeway Open.
Snedeker finished with a 3-under 69 to get to 16-under 200 on the North Course at Silverado Resort and Spa. He won the Wyndham Championship in August, opening with a 59 en route to his ninth PGA Tour title.
Kevin Tway was second after a 68. Sungjae Im (69) was 12 under, and Bill Haas (67) followed at 11 under.
Phil Mickelson, tied for second entering the round, had a 74 to drop into a tie for 15th at 8 under.
Fred Couples also was 8 under after a 70 in his final regular PGA Tour start. The 59-year-old Hall of Famer played the first two rounds with Snedeker, shooting a 65 on Friday.
Dunhill leader Hatton poised to match Tiger’s Euro feat
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Tyrrell Hatton of England is on course to become the first golfer since Tiger Woods 11 years ago to win the same European Tour event three years running.
Hatton shot a 6-under 66 in the third round at St. Andrews, one of three courses being used at the Dunhill Links Championship, to open a one-stroke lead with a 14-under total of 202 on Saturday. Marcus Fraser of Australia was his nearest challenger after a 67 at Kingsbarns.
Former Dunhill Links winner Stephen Gallacher (66) and Hatton’s European Ryder Cup teammate, Tommy Fleetwood (67), were in joint third place, two shots further back, on 11 under.
Fourteen-times major champion Woods was the last player to win the same European Tour event three successive times when, in 2007, he completed a hat trick of titles at the WGCChampionship and the WGC-Invitational. Nick Faldo is the only Englishman to have previously achieved the feat after winning the Irish Open from 1991-93.
“To join that club would be so special,” Hatton said. “It was pretty cold this morning and I was struggling to warm up. We’re in a good position going into the final day and that’s all we can ask for.”
Typhoon wipes out day 3 of UL International
INCHEON, South Korea – Strong winds and heavy rain from Typhoon Kong-rey hit the Korean peninsula on Saturday, ensuring that there would be no play on day three of the eight-nation UL International Crown event in the city of Incheon, 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Seoul.
The defending champion United States led Pool B at the end of the second round with six points. Sweden is next with four points while Japan and Thailand have three each.
After three rounds of fourballs, the top two teams from each pool and one wild-card team will advance to the singles event. The team collecting the most points over the four days wins the title. Teams get two points for a win and one if the match is halved.
Organizers attempted to play two rounds on Friday only for inclement conditions to intervene in the early evening to end the third round with the United States up in one fourball against Japan and down in the other.
Michelle Wie and Jessica Korda walked off the course after the 12th, 1down against Nasa Hataoka and Ayako Uehara. Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thompson were 1-up after the 11th against Misuzu Narita and Mamiko Higa.
Sweden and Thailand each led one match in their encounter.
England leads Pool A with seven points, one ahead of top-seeded South Korea.
The two teams faced each other in the third round, each leading one match when play was halted. Bronte Law and Jodi Ewart Shadoff were 1-up against In Gee Chun and So Yeon Ryu after the sixth, while Sung Hyun Park and I.K. Kim were 4-up after the eighth against Charley Hull and Georgia Hall.
Australia, with three points, was leading eighth-seeded Taiwan in both matches.
Round three is expected to resume on Sunday morning, weather permitting.