Kirk eyeing first victory on PGA Tour since 2015
Chris Kirk’s last win on the PGA Tour was nearly eight years ago. He has put himself in a position to change that at the Honda Classic.
Kirk battled his way to a four-under-par round of 66 on Saturday, putting him at 13-under 197 for the week and giving him a two-shot lead over Eric Cole (66) through three rounds at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
His last win on tour was at Colonial in 2015 — 180 tournaments ago. He’s a fourtime winner on tour, played in the Presidents Cup in 2015, and has been waiting to hoist a trophy again since.
“It’s been so long since I’ve won,” Kirk said. “I’m going to be plenty nervous, just as nervous as those guys are probably.”
Cole stayed in the mix with his second consecutive round of 66.
Justin Suh holed out from the fairway for an eagle on the par-four 12th and is alone in third at 10 under. The former Trojan shot even-par 70 on Saturday.
Shane Lowry (65) is nine under and right in the mix after having a chance to win the Honda last year until the 72nd hole. He’s tied with Ben Taylor (69).
Among those lurking: defending champion Sepp Straka, who followed opening rounds of 69 and 68 with a 66 on Saturday. He’s seven under for the week, six shots back. It was Straka’s sixth consecutive round in the 60s at PGA National.
Gooch tied in LIV
Talor Gooch made a fourfoot birdie putt on his final hole to tie Peter Uihlein for the lead in a LIV Golf season debut at Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Uihlein was in the lead for most of Saturday until a bogey-birdie-bogey finish led to a five-under 66. Gooch played bogey-free, ending his round with an approach to short range on the parfour first hole.
They were at nine-under 133, one shot ahead of
Charles Howell III. Paul Casey was in the mix until three bogeys over his last four holes gave him a 71 and left him three shots behind, along with Branden Grace.
Rookie still ahead
Thai rookie Natthakritta Vongtaveelap shot a bogeyfree 64 to grab a four-stroke lead over fellow countrywoman Atthaya Thitikul after the third round of the LPGA Thailand at Pattaya. The 20-year-old Vongtaveelap began with an eagle and went on to notch six birdies, including three in a row from the 16th, to push her score to 20 under in front of thousands of jubilant home fans at the Siam Country Club.
Paul’s lead narrows
Yannik Paul’s lead at the Hero Indian Open was trimmed from five shots to one after the third round of the European tour event at New Delhi. Paul, who shot a one-under 71 to move to 11 under overall, is one ahead of fellow German Marcel Siem, who birdied his last two holes.