Wise handles wind to fire 3-under 68, earn share of lead
Aaron Wise shot a 3-under 68 in much windier conditions Saturday on the new Trinity Forest course in Dallas, pulling even with Marc Leishman for the third-round lead at the AT&T Byron Nelson.
The 21-year-old PGA Tour rookie had consecutive birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 before a bogey on the final hole to fall into a tie at 17-under 196. He won the 2016 NCAA individual title as a sophomore at Oregon.
Leishman shot 69 after setting a 36-hole tournament record previously shared by Tiger Woods.
Hometown star Jordan Spieth couldn’t make a move from eight shots back, shooting par 71 and falling 10 strokes behind.
Wind gusted above 25 mph at times after two rounds of calmer conditions and lower scores on the treeless, links-style layout a few miles south of downtown Dallas. The Nelson spent the previous 35 years on a more conventional venue in suburban Irving.
Kevin Na (69) and Matt Jones (68) both bogeyed the par-4 18th to finish at 13 under. Jimmy Walker shot 70 with a double bogey on the final hole that dropped him to 12 under, with Brian Gay, who bogeyed 18 for a 72.
Champions: Miguel Angel Jimenez shot a 6-under 66 on Saturday to take a threestroke lead into the final round of the Regions Tradition.
Jimenez birdied the final hole to reach 17-under 199 at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Ala., matching Gil Morgan’s 54-hole Tradition record set in 1997. Steve Stricker was second in the first of five PGA Tour Champions majors.
Jimenez has six top-five finishes in senior majors but is seeking his first victory. The Spaniard has four PGA Tour Champions titles.
Stricker eagled the par-4 eighth in a 65, holing out from about 158 yards with a 9-iron. He said he didn’t get to see it go in.
Kevin Sutherland, Joe Durant and Gene Sauers were four shots back. Durant shot 67, Sutherland 68, and Sauers 70.
LPGA Tour: Heavy rain in Williamsburg, Va., forced postponement of play at the Kingsmill Championship on Saturday, and the tournament was reduced to 54 holes.
Sixty players failed to finish the second round. They will do that beginning at 7:30 a.m. today. After that, the field will be cut and tee off on the first and 10th holes.
In Gee Chun leads among players who have finished two rounds. She is at 11 under, with Austin Ernst and Nasa Hataoka one shot back.
European Tour: Home favorite Nicolas Colsaerts qualified for the quarterfinals of the inaugural Belgian Knockout in Antwerp. Colsaerts claimed victories over Richie Ramsay, Lorenzo Gagli and Joachim B. Hansen to set up a quarterfinal against James Heath of England.
In other quarterfinals, Mike Lorenzo-Vera will face Benjamin Hebert in an allFrench contest, Victor Perez of France will take on David Drysdale of Scotland, and Jorge Campillo and Adrian Otaegui meet in an all-Spanish matchup.