Second-round leader Nick Flanagan birdied his final hole on Saturday to join fellow Australian Gavin Coles in first place after three rounds at the US Bank Championship.
Flanagan, who shared the second-round lead with Richard Johnson of Sweden, shot a 1-under 69 and Coles a 68 to get to 11 under at Brown Deer Park Golf Course.
Johnson also birdied the 18th hole to shoot even-par 70, tied with Jon Mills (64), George McNeill (66) and Ken Duke (68) a stroke back of the leaders.
PHOTO: AP
The low rounds came despite a drizzle that fell most of the day.
Five players were another shot back, including defending champion Joe Ogilvie, whose 68 on Saturday puts him in a good position to become the first repeat winner.
Kenny Perry, whose decision to play the tournament instead of the British Open was panned by players and the media, shot a third-round 69 to get to 6 under — too far back to have much of a chance at his fourth win this season.
PHOTO: AP
“My goal was to get within three, and I had my chances,” said Perry, who won the John Deere Classic last week. “If I could have made a couple putts coming in and got within three, I would have had a shot at this deal. It will take a magical round tomorrow. I’d have to shoot 61 or some crazy number, and that ain’t happening right now.”
Flanagan, who was promoted after winning three tournaments on the Nationwide Tour, led at the turn despite a bogey on the par-4 ninth, when he missed a short putt. The bogey dropped him back to 10 under, the score he and Johnson had to share the lead after two rounds.
Flanagan still retained at least a share of the lead until he bogeyed the par-4 17th. His third shot from green-side rough barely got onto the green, and he missed a long putt for par to fall a shot behind Coles.
The 24-year-old tour rookie made up for his mistake on the 557-yard, par-5 finishing hole. After a good drive, Flanagan hit a hybrid to 12-feet and barely missed an eagle putt that would have given him sole possession of first place.
Johnson, the first-round leader, also missed a putt for eagle at the 18th. He had to settle for a birdie that kept him just a shot out of first place.
Coles, whose 62 Friday was the low round of the tournament, stumbled through bogeys on the first two holes to fall to 7 under.
He rebounded with four birdies on the back nine, including back-to-back at 12 and 13, and his birdie at the par-4 16th got him to 11 under.
Mills, another former Nationwide Tour player, started on the back nine because he was so far behind the leaders when the day began.
After making up a pair on his first nine, Mills shot 4-under 30 on the front side.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
RSS