Burns struggles to keep share of lead
PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Sam Burns had a three-shot lead with five holes to play Saturday and had to make an 8-foot bogey putt on the 18th hole just to keep a share of the lead with Keegan Bradley in the Valspar Championship.
Burns had two bogeys over the final three holes at Innisbrook, both from errant tee shots, and he did well to make sure his finish wasn’t worse. He had to two-putt from 75 feet on the final hole for bogey and a 2-under 69.
Bradley, who got back in the mix by chipping in for eagle, also bogeyed the 18th for a 69. They were at 14-under 199, tying the 54-hole tournament record set by K.J. Choi in 2002 and matched by Adam Hadwin in 2017. Both Choi and Hadwin went on to win.
This was hardly a two-man race, not the way Max Homa finished. Homa ran in a birdie putt from just inside 30 feet on the 15th hole, and after a bogey on the tough 16th, he closed out his round of 66 by making a 35-foot bending birdie putt from the fringe on the 18th.
That makes seven putts from 25 feet or longer this week for Homa, and it left him only one shot out of the lead as he goes for his second PGA Tour victory this year.
Burns has at least a share of the 54hole lead for the third time this season. He shot 2-over 72 in the Houston Open to tie for seventh, and his 2-under 69 at Riviera left him one shot out of a playoff at the Genesis Invitational won by Homa.
If the last hour was any indication, it doesn’t take much for the Copperhead course at Innisbrook to bite back.
“There’s some birdies out there,” Abraham Ancer said after his 66. “But this golf course, if you’re not in the right position, man, you can make some bogeys quick.”
And thanks to a few quick bogeys by the leaders, Ancer is suddenly back in the mix. He was in the group at 10-under 203, just four shots behind, that included Ted Potter Jr. (63), Joaquin Niemann (67) and Cameron Tringale (67).
Niemann began his week at Innisbrook in the same group as Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas, Nos. 1 and 2 in the world, who are no longer part of the equation.
Thomas had a 67 and was eight shots behind. Johnson took double bogey on the 16th and 18th holes for a 74 and will be out of town before the final group tees off.
Paul Casey’s bid for a third consecutive win at the Valspar Championship is gone, too. He shot 72 and was 12 shots out of the lead.
The top three all made eagle during a sweltering Saturday, all in different fashion.
It started with Burns, who sent a 3hybrid soaring with such height that it pitched in front of the first hole and settled 30 inches away for a tap-in eagle. Burns also made a 35-foot birdie putt on the third hole and hit a tough bunker shot to 10 feet for birdie on the fifth.
Bradley could barely keep up with him. Turns out he didn’t need to do much. Burns didn’t make another birdie over the final 13 holes, losing a chance to at least keep his distance.
LPGA Tour
SINGAPORE – China’s Lin Xiyu tapped in on the 18th hole for her fourth birdie of the back nine and a 5-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead Saturday after three rounds of the LPGA Tour’s HSBC Women’s World Championship.
Lin had a 54-hole total of 14-under 202 at Sentosa Golf Club.
Hannah Green shot her second consecutive 66 to move into a share of second place with world No. 2-ranked Inbee Park, who shot 70 with a birdie on the 18th after a double-bogey 7 on the 16th cost her the lead.
Park, who appeared to be limping late in her round Saturday, led by one stroke after the first round and was tied for the lead after two.
Gaby Lopez had the low round of the day with a 65 to leave the Mexican player in fourth place, two strokes behind.
Lydia Ko, who holed out from the fairway for an eagle on the 18th to finish with a 69, was tied for fifth, four behind.
“Going into the back nine, which I thought was the tougher nine, I didn’t really expect to play that well,” Lin said. “But I also knew there are still lots of opportunities, so just needed to stay really patient.”
European Tour
TENERIFE, Spain – Kalle Samooja carded a 5-under 66 to pull level with overnight leader Nicolai von Dellingshausen and send both into the final round of the Tenerife Open with a oneshot lead on Saturday. Samooja of Finland made six birdies to go with one bogey over the third round at the Golf Costa Adeje course on the Canary Islands.
German golfer Von Dellingshausen started the day three shots up and held onto his share of the lead after carding a 70 on three birdies and two bogeys. Both leaders have yet to win a European Tour event.