Australian Rod Pampling rallied from an opening bogey for a par-70 here Saturday to match American Tim Herron for the lead after the third round of the six million-dollar PGA Colonial event.
Both stood on 10-under par 200 after 54 holes, one stroke ahead of Aussies Peter Lonard and Nathan Green and Sweden's Richard S. Johnson and two better than Norway's Henrik Bjornstad and Americans Bo Van Pelt and Charley Hoffman.
"I think it's as satisfying today to shoot a par round today and it's still in the lead and that is the good thing," Pampling said. "I know I didn't play great today. I was mentally solid out there and that is what kept me in it."
Pampling bounced back from his poor start with a birdie at the third, took bogeys at the seventh and 10th holes as well but then scrambled back with birdies at the 11th and 15th before parring out.
Herron also had an up-and-down round, although he began with a birdie and added back-to-back birdies at the sixth and seventh. He began the back nine with a bogey but regained the stroke with a hole-out from off the 14th green.
Herron slumped back with bogeys at 16 and 17 but finished with a birdie to grab a share of the lead.
"I was kind of grinding," Herron said. "I didn't want it to be (that kind of round). But it happened to be. The golf course got so difficult."
Lonard, who shot a 69 on Saturday, said the course is getting tougher.
"The ball's rolling off the fairway into the rough more, and the greens aren't as soft as they were at the first of the week, either.
"Whenever you make a golf course on tour hard and fast and bouncy, you usually find that the scores go backwards."
Comments
Comments are closed.