Palmer, English share Sentry lead

KAPALUA, Hawaii — Ryan Palmer went through a range of emotions over the final 15 minutes Saturday that ended with him posting a 9-under 64 for the best round of the week and a share of the lead with Harris English in the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Palmer thought he might have been in trouble with a thin fairway metal approaching the green on the par-5 18th. It narrowly cleared native grass left of the green and rolled out to 12 feet, and he two-putted for birdie.

His score stood when rules officials determined there was no intent, and no penalty, when he tamped down a divot a few paces away from where his ball was rolling after a muffed chip on the ninth hole.

English wasn’t so fortunate with his second shot to the

18th. He was left and came up some 15 feet short of clearing the hazard. His only good break was that a marshal somehow spotted it. Instead of a third shot from 200-plus yards away, he hacked out to 80 feet away and took two tough putts for par and a 66.

They were tied at 21-under 198, one shot ahead of Collin Morikawa, the Las Vegas resident who also flirted with trouble on the closing hole at the Plantation. Morikawa finished with a birdie for a third-round score of 65.

Until the final hole, the third round at Kapalua was all about making birdies to keep from losing ground. Scoring has been exceptionally low, not just by one player but several of them, because of a soft course and little wind.

The top three began to pull away.

Daniel Berger, playing in the final group with English, had a long eagle putt hang on the lip at the 18th and had to settle for birdie and a 67 that left him three shots behind, still in the mix.

Defending champion Justin Thomas finally hit a shot he couldn’t find. Three times this week, he hit it into knee-high native grass and managed to locate the ball and twice saved par. He wasn’t so lucky on the sixth hole, sending it well right and into a deep gorge for a double bogey. Thomas recovered for a 68 and was four back, along with Sungjae Im (67).