Kirk takes 2-shot lead into final round at Honda
Chris Kirk’s last win on the PGA Tour was nearly eight years ago. He’s put himself in a position to change that at the Honda Classic.
Kirk battled his way to a 4-under 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.
His last win on tour was at Colonial in 2015 — 180 tournaments ago. He’s a four-time winner on tour, played in the Presidents Cup in 2015, and has been waiting to hoist a trophy again since.
Kirk made a wild birdie on the last, after his second shot on the par-5 18th wound up next to the grandstand and underneath someone’s bag that was left against the structure. He got a drop, chipped on from there and made the putt to restore a two-shot lead.
And now he has a chance to be a winner again — with most of the players nearest to him on the leaderboard looking for their first tour wins.
“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.
“It’s awesome,” Cole said. “I’ve never played this event before. Tried to qualify a bunch of times … I’m enjoying every minute of it.”
Justin Suh holed out from the fairway for an eagle on the par-4 12th, and is alone in third at 10 under. He shot even-par 70 on Saturday.
Shane Lowry (65) is 9 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).
“If I can just hang around all day, hopefully I can give myself a chance coming down the stretch,” Lowry said. “I think I did what I needed to do today.”
Among those lurking: defending champion Sepp Straka, who followed opening rounds of 69 and 68 with a 66 on Saturday. He’s 7 under for the week, six shots back. It was Straka’s sixth straight round in the 60s at PGA National.
Sunday is a big day for two players with a shot of qualifying for The Players Championship by getting into the top 50 in the world. Min Woo Lee struggled to a 73 on Saturday and is tied for 58th at even par through 54 holes; Adrian Meronk is tied for 20th at 4 under.
Lee started the week No. 47; Meronk started No. 53.
LPGA TOUR
Thai rookie Natthakritta Vongtaveelap shot a bogey-free 64 to grab a four-stroke lead over fellow countrywoman Atthaya Thitikul after round three of the $1.7 million LPGA Thailand on Saturday.
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 finish at 20-under-par-196 in front of thousands of jubilant home fans at the Siam Country Club.
Vongtaveelap will try to become the first player to win on her LPGA Tour debut since Japanese Hinako Shibuno at the 2019 Women’s British Open.
Her longtime friend and two-time LPGA winner Thitikul also carded a 64. The world No. 4 kicked off her round with three straight birdies and produced five more before stumbling with a bogey on the 16th hole. But she bounced back with a closing birdie.
Celine Boutier, the French national who has Thai parents. shot a 67 to take third place on 201.
American Lilia Vu,
2014 winner Anna Nordqvist of Sweden and compatriot Maja Stark
were six shots off the lead at 202.
EUROPEAN TOUR
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 on Saturday in New Delhi.
Paul, who shot a 1-under 71 to move to 11 under overall, is one ahead of fellow German Marcel Siem.
Siem, who is ranked No. 337, birdied his last two holes for a 67 that put him in the final group on Sunday as he goes in search of his fifth European tour title — and first since 2014.
The No. 119-ranked Paul’s only previous title came at the Mallorca Open last year.
Dutch golfer Joost Luiten, who shot a 68, was three strokes off the lead at 8 under.
Jorge Campillo (67),
Veer Ahlawat (68) and
Thorbjorn Olesen (66) were tied for fourth place, six shots behind Paul.
LIV TOUR
Talor Gooch made a 4-foot birdie putt on his final hole to tie Peter Uihlein for the lead in a LIV Golf season debut at Mayakoba that looks to be an Oklahoma State alumni reunion.
Uihlein was in the lead for most of Saturday at El Camaleon in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, until a bogey-birdie-bogey finish led to a 5-under 66. Gooch played bogey-free, ending his round with an approach to short range on the par-4 first hole.
They were teammates at Oklahoma State — Uihlein was a junior having won the U.S. Amateur at Chambers Bay when Gooch was a freshman.
They were at 9-under 133, one shot ahead of Charles Howell III, who played for the Cowboys more than a decade earlier. Howell opened with three straight birdies and closed with birdie for a 66.
Phil Mickelson made only one birdie in his round of 75 and was 14 shots behind after two rounds. The third and final round is Sunday.