English chips in, leads by 1 shot at Mayakoba
PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – Harris English feels he got away from the basics that carried him to a promising start to his PGA Tour career. He hopes he’s headed in that direction again.
English holed a chip-and-run from off the 18th green Saturday for birdie and a 7-under 64, giving him the 36-hole lead at the Mayakoba Golf Classic as he tries to end six years without winning.
English was at 13-under 129, one shot ahead of Vaughn Taylor, who had a 66 in the afternoon. Brendon Todd, coming off a victory two weeks ago in Bermuda Championship, had a 68 and was two back.
“Just mainly working on the same stuff every day and kind of going back to the drawing board and figuring out what I was doing really well my first couple years on tour and just stick to that, not trying to reinvent the wheel,” English said.
Whatever he’s doing, English is on a roll.
He had to go back to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals after last season to regain his card. Since then, he has finished in the top 10 in three of his four tournaments.
Next up is a long day. Because rain washed out all of Thursday, players will go as long as they can Sunday before darkness, with the 72hole event concluding Monday. Even with the new policy of top 65 and ties making the cut, 82 players advanced to the final two rounds.
The course, which received more than 9 inches of rain from Monday through Thursday, dried remarkably well and the greens had plenty of pace.
English motored along, rarely getting into too much trouble. He birdied his last two holes to set the pace.
European Tour
SUN CITY, South Africa – Zander Lombard will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge and is in position to win his first European Tour title at his country’s most prestigious tournament.
The 24-year-old South African, who led by two strokes overnight, ground out a level-par 72 in the third round on Saturday to move to 11 under par and stay ahead of compatriot Louis Oosthuizen (71) and Belgian Thomas Detry (69).
Lombard made a bogey on No. 6 and a double bogey on No. 8 but fought back on the back nine.