Mitchell has bogey-free round
Chico State product Harkins tied for 10th in Korn Ferry Tour event
Keith Mitchell straightened out his putter and delivered big tee shots Saturday that carried him to a 6-under 66 and a two-shot lead over Rory McIlroy and Gary Woodland in the Wells Fargo Championship.
The putter issue is not a figure of speech.
After closing with an 82 in the Valspar Championship last week, Mitchell discovered his putter was out of alignment. He had it bent back to the right specifications, avoided mistakes that slowed so many others, and now has a chance at a second PGA Tour victory.
“I just feel like everything’s really working,” said Mitchell, who was at 9-under 204. “My driver feels great, and around this place you’ve really got to drive it well. Really just trying to keep the ball in front of me right now and see what we can do tomorrow.”
McIlroy will be right there along for the ride.
A two-time winner at Quail Hollow, McIlroy raced out to the lead, steadied himself after a double bogey on the 12th hole when his drive hit a cart path, and shot 68. Winless the last 18 months, McIlroy will be in the final group for the first time since Riviera more than a year ago.
Woodland had troubles on his own, particularly a drive right of the water hazard on the par-5 seventh that turned birdie into bogey, and a lapse of poor putting down the stretch on the back nine. He still managed a 70 with a chance to win for the first time since his U.S. Open title at Pebble Beach in 2019.
LPGA TOUR >> Patty Tavatanakit struggled on the front nine but will take a one-shot lead over fellow Thai Atthaya Thitikul and German Caroline Masson into the final round of the LPGA Thailand tournament.
Tavatanakit recovered from her slow start to shoot a 2-under 70 in the third round at Siam Country Club.
After back-to-back 64s, Tav
atanakit bogeyed on the fourth and ninth after a birdie on the second. She recovered with birdies on the 14th and 15th and fought back from the bunker on the final hole for her fourth birdie. She moved to 18-under 198.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS >> Defending champion Steve Stricker made a long eagle putt on the final hole for a 7-under 65 and the thirdround lead in the Regions Tradition, the first of five PGA Tour Champions majors.
Stricker moved a stroke ahead of Alex Cejka with
the eagle that got him to 14-under 202 at Greystone
Golf & Country Club. Cejka, who made the field as the first alternate Monday, bogeyed the 17th in a 66.
Stricker, who won the Alabama major the last time it was held in 2019, raised his fist toward the fans just an instant before the eagle putt dropped in on the closing par 5. Cejka two-putted for par.
KORN FERRY TOUR >> Former Chico State standout Brandon Harkins shot a 4-under 68 in the third round of the Simmons Bank Open on the Korn Ferry Tour and sits tied for 10th.
He sits in a group at 7-under 209, six shots off the lead.