Wesley Bryan had an up-and-down round Saturday but still holds a one-shot lead after three rounds at the Corales Puntacana Championship in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Bryan shot a 2-under 70 in his worst round of the tourney but it didn’t prevent him from being the leader for the third straight day. Bryan is at 17-under 199 through 54 holes at Puntacana Resort & Club to tie the tournament three-round record set by Adam Long in 2020.
Kevin Tway is one shot off the pace after his second straight 66. Justin Lower (71) and Canada’s Taylor Pendrith are tied for third at 15-under 201.
Bryan, 34, is seeking his second career PGA victory. He won the RBC Heritage crown in 2017.
He’s looking forward to ending the long drought.
“It’s fun,” Bryan said. “Excited to just get the nerves flowing a little bit tomorrow and have a chance to win a golf tournament, that’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was 6, 7, 8 years old and got a good opportunity for that tomorrow.”
Bryan had seven birdies and five bogeys during Saturday’s bumpy round. He had bogeys on Holes 15 and 17 before a birdie on 18 kept him in the lead.
Bryan began the tourney with rounds of 63 and 66.
“Now, the scores have looked drastically different, but I just feel as far as for the vast majority of the shots I’m hitting, I’m executing them well,” Bryan said.
“They don’t all turn out great, but just going to try and put a solid one tomorrow and see where it is on the leaderboard.”
Tway carded an eagle on the par-5, No. 7 and also had five birdies and one bogey on Saturday.
“Played good, got off to a hot start, made some good putts and then some good par-saving putts that kind of kept the momentum going,” Tway said.
Pendrith racked up seven birdies in a bogey-free round. He made three straight on the front nine — Nos. 6, 7 and 8.
“I feel like I haven’t really had to grind for pars,” Pendrith said. “Made a couple six-footers, but, like, hit it really nice today. Was a little shaky early, but had some easy up-and-downs and just tried to stay patient. The downwind holes are definitely gettable.”
After rounds of 66 and 64, Lower slipped to a 1-under 71 in the third round. He had three birdies through seven holes but only one the rest of the way.
Lower had bogeys on Holes 8, 11 and 16.
Billy Horschel is three shots off the lead after carding a 66. Horschel had seven birdies and one bogey.
Parker Coody (67), Alex Smalley (68), Charley Hoffman (69), Bill Haas (69) and Greyson Sigg (70) are tied for sixth at 13 under.
–Field Level Media
