Beau Hossler handled a half-dozen tough par putts and two rain delays Saturday for a 4-under 66 that gave him a share of the lead with Michael Brennan going into the final round of the Wyndham Championship with postseason berths at stake.
Hossler is No 122 in the FedExCup, knowing his only mathematical chance to be among the top 70 to advance to the playoffs is to win for the first time on the PGA Tour.
Brennan, who went from the PGA TOUR Americas to a PGA Tour card by winning the Bank of Utah Championship last fall, made a birdie putt from 15 feet on the last hole for a 63. They were at 16-under 194, one shot ahead of Scottish Open winner Tom Kim (63), and two shots clear of 44-year-old Alex Noren and Alex Smalley, who each shot 65.
Such is the nature of the final regular-season tournament – and the stakes – that nine of the top 10 players on the leaderboard shot 66 or lower on Saturday.
Hossler was leading until a 30-minute delay because of storms, and returned to three-putt from 30 feet for bogey on the par-3 16th hole, ending his streak of 31 holes without a bogey. He hit his tee shot into the rough on the 17th, and then came another delay of 1 hour and 20 minutes. The rough was even thicker and damper when he returned, and the greens were challenging as ever.
'VERY CHAOTIC DAY'
Hossler saved par with three putts from 10 feet or longer, and three others in the 5-foot range that looked even longer with the grain in the greens.
“That might be the hardest two-putt on the PGA TOUR right there,” Hossler said of the 18th green. “Was really glad to get that down in two and give myself a chance for tomorrow. But very chaotic day, and just glad to make it through.”
Jordan Smith of England, at No 68 in the FedExCup, helped his cause in many ways when he made a hole-in-one on the par-3 16th hole with a 9-iron. That also came with one million reward points from tournament sponsor Wyndham.