San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Alameda’s Hahn among 3 tied for lead at Silverado
James Hahn will have to solve his problems on the green if he is to emerge the winner Sunday at what is essentially his home PGA Tour tournament.
But on a Saturday when eight players held or shared the lead, Hahn, who was raised in Alameda and went to Cal, emerged tied for the lead at the Safeway Open with Brian Stuard and Cameron Percy despite all three running into trouble at various times at Silverado Resort in Napa.
Hahn needed 28 putts in an adventurous third round, but made birdies on Nos. 15 and 16 for a 5underpar 67.
“I just put myself out of position on the par 5s, something to work on,” said Hahn, 38, who has two PGA Tour victories, the last at the Wells Fargo Championship in 2016. “And it’s kind of a good thing that I’m not quite all there yet and hopefully I can put it all together tomorrow.”
Stuard, who began the day five shots off the lead, closed with a scrambling birdie for a 66. Percy had a 68 to join the group at 16under 200. He nearly took himself out of the hunt after bogeys on Nos. 11 and 14, but bounced back with birdies on two of the final three holes.
Secondround leader Sam Burns struggled to a 72 that left him tied with Kristoffer Ventura (66) and Harry Higgs (70) at 15under. Emiliano Grillo (65), Stewart Cink (65), Doug Ghim (69), D.J. Trahan (70) and Russell Knox (70) were 14under.
The course continues to bend toward lower scores as temperatures have increased. Even shots coming out of the rough seemed to play differently.
“I think the ground has dried out a lot so the ball’s going farther in the air, but it’s also going farther when it lands, especially off the tees,” said Cink, who at 47 is attempting to become the oldest winner on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson won at Pebble Beach at 48 in 2019. “The rough is dried out, so it’s playing a little bit more unpredictable than it was before when it was still kind of damp. And the greens are still holding.”
Mickelson (70) is well off the pace in his tuneup for next week’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot. At 8under, Mickelson conceded he may not be ready for the major.
“This is the worst I’ve played in the last three months,” Mickelson said. “And it’s deceptive because I didn’t make a bogey, but I didn’t drive it well, I didn’t chip it well and I didn’t putt well. I turned a 64 into a 70.”