An early chip in eagle wasn’t enough for Lucas Glover to cement his spot at the top of the leaderboard after earning a two-stroke lead on Friday, as he is now joined by Lee Hodges who can thank a back nine rally for his jump to the top of the leaderboard alongside Glover at 16-under.
Glover chipped in for a three at the par-5 second before adding a bogey to his card at the ninth to take the turn at one-under. It was a somewhat uneventful day for Glover from there as he would make just one more birdie at TPC Deere Run, which came at the 17th. Glover may be disappointed with a two-under-par 69 in very scorable conditions.
“You pretty much know you’ve got to go low or you’re not going to win,” Glover said. “Everybody is going to have to be aggressive, so I’ve got to hit it a little better tomorrow to achieve the ultimate goal.”
After an even-par front nine thanks to two birdies and two bogeys, Hodges made four birdies on the back nine as he got back to the clubhouse with a four-under 67 to see him in a good position to add to his sole PGA TOUR win.
“I think I did a poor job on the front nine kind of getting out of my own way. I feel like I’ve said that a lot this week, but that’s really what I’m working on. Just kind of getting out of my own way, getting out of my head, not trying too hard,” said Hodges.
“Tomorrow will be a little more fun. I get to go attack and just beat people. I’m just going to keep my pedal down and just shoot lower than anybody tomorrow,” he added.
There is a three-way tie for T3 as Ben Kohles, Jackson Suber, and Zac Blair all sit just one back from the lead at 15-under.
Lurking in the distance within three strokes of the lead is 50-year-old Zach Johnson who skipped the U.S. Senior Open at Scioto this week to play what he considers to be his home tournament. Johnson sits seventh at 13-under thanks to a five-under-par 66 on Saturday.
“I’m playing good enough… there’s nothing changing. Nothing is deviating away from my process and how I go about it. It feels like it’s been an extension of the whole week. My focus right now is hydration, recovery, food, and sleep, packing,” said Johnson.
Rickie Fowler posted an incredible eight-under-par 63 to see him get within five strokes of the lead in T12. Fowler had to get up-and-down from par on his last hole Friday to make the cut on the number.
“There are times where you see guys go ahead and run away a bit, but also, times where it just kind of bunches up. I’m kind of hoping it stays this way. It gives me a better opportunity. There’s going to be a lot of guys battling out tomorrow with low scores that are possible and see what happens,” said Fowler.
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