Birdie rush lifts Piercy
WASHINGTON (AFP) — American Scott Piercy missed out on a sixth consecutive birdie on Saturday as play resumed in the thunderstorm-interrupted third round of the US PGA Tour’s 3M Open.
Piercy, who led by three strokes when the day began, birdied five holes in a row to grab a four-stroke lead and was on the green at the par-3 eighth when players were pulled off the course.
After a delay of six and a half hours, 2016 US Open runner-up Piercy left a birdie putt from just inside 50 feet some five feet short then sank his par putt.
That left Piercy on 18-under overall, 5-under in the round, at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota.
Tee times had been moved to the morning with groups of three in hopes of completing play before the storms arrived.
Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo was second on 14-under after eight holes with American Tony Finau a distant third on 10-under after eight.
World No. 297 Piercy, 43, seeks his fifth PGA title, but his first since the 2018 Zurich Classic pairs event and first solo crown since the 2015 Barbasol Championship.
Tee times had been moved to the morning with groups of three in hopes of completing play before the storms arrived.
Piercy birdied his fifth hole in a row at the seventh on a putt from just outside 10 feet to leave Grillo four adrift.
Piercy began Saturday’s birdie run with an 18-foot putt at the third hole then added a seven-footer at the par-3 fourth, a 14-foot putt at the fifth and dropped his approach three feet from the cup at the par-5 sixth to set up another birdie putt.
World No. 132 Grillo, third at the 2020 3M Open and second three weeks ago at the John Deere Classic, won his only PGA title at the 2015 Frys.com Open.
He opened with a birdie, added another on a 28-foot putt at the fourth and eagled the sixth on a putt from just inside 40 feet.