Rahm ties rookie Thompson for La Quinta lead

Jon Rahm got off to a hot start and shot a seven-under 65 on Saturday on PGA West’s Stadium Course for a share of the lead with tour rookie Davis Thompson in the American Express in La Quinta.

Thompson’s run of eagles in the Southern California desert finally ended as the 23-year-old carded a 67, also on the Stadium Course, to settle into a tie with Rahm at 23-under 193. Thompson, who had five eagles in leading through the first two rounds, just missed a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 18 that would have given him a onestroke lead.

Rahm, the world’s fourth-ranked player who won at Kapalua two weeks ago, and Thompson will make up the final group Sunday on the Stadium Course, which was one of three courses that hosted the first three rounds.

J.T. Poston and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who shot a 10-under 62 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course, were four strokes behind the leaders. Tom Kim, Harry Higgs,

Sam Burns and Taylor Montgomery were another stroke back at 18 under.

Henderson leads

Brooke Henderson has a three-shot lead in the Grand Hilton Vacations Tournament of Champions. Henderson has been in control from the start in the LPGA Tour season opener at Lake Nona in Orlando, Fla. She stretched her lead to five shots at one point. But the Canadian stalled on the back nine. Her bonus was a sliding birdie putt on the 16th hole that led to a 69. She leads by three shots over Nelly Korda and Nasa Hataoka of Japan.

Crowd at the top

Shane Lowry has moved into position to win the Abu Dhabi Championship for a second time but the Irishman has company on a stacked leaderboard. Lowry, the 2019 champion, shot sixunder 66 to tie for the thirdround lead with Francesco Molinari and Min Woo Lee at 13-under overall. There were 12 players within three shots of the joint leaders and among them is Padraig Harrington, who shot 64.