Bryson DeChambeau claimed three victories last season on the PGA Tour and he’s trying to jump-start the new campaign with another one.
DeChambeau, from Clovis in Central California, birdied four of the last six holes in the third round to shoot 6-under-par 65 and tie Peter Uihlein for the lead in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin https://tpc.com/summerlin/ in Las Vegas.
“Definitely nice to be able to ball strike it as well as I have the past three days,” said DeChambeau, who is playing the first time this season. “Nice to be able to take two weeks — or three, four weeks off. I don’t know how many weeks I was off. It’s nice to not know essentially coming into an event and still be able to perform. That’s something I’ll take with me moving forward.
“Still not seeing the line (on the greens) as well as I would like to. It’s all visual. If I start seeing it really well, watch out. But if I don’t see it well, it’s a struggle. I’m going to go work on that and try and make that better for tomorrow.”
The sixth-ranked DeChambeau, who at SMU joined Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickleson and Ryan Moore as the only players to claim the NCAA Championship and the U.S. Amateur in the same year, caught Uihlein a 54-hole score of 16-under 197.
Uihlein, who held the lead after each of the first two rounds with scores of 63-65, managed a solid 68 and still has a chance to claim his first PGA Tour victory.
“Tomorrow will be exciting,” said Uihlein, who has won on the European Tour and the Web.com Tour. “Depending on the weather, if it’s windy could be tricky again. If not I think you can get after it. It will be a bit of a shootout. Definitely looking forward to it. I’m excited.”
Lucas Glover, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, collected two eagles and seven birdies in a sizzling 61 and is one stroke back in third, while defending champion Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos and UCLA had a bogey-free 63 and is another shot behind in a tie for fourth with Robert Streb, who holed out for an eagle on the 13th hole in a 68.
Cameron Champ of Sacramento, who won the Sanderson Farms Championship last week, posted a bogey-free 66 and is three down in solo sixth, while Ryan Palmer and Chesson Hadley carded 65s and are four down in a tie for seventh with Abraham Ancer of Mexico and Harold Varner III, who both came in at 69.
Ninth-ranked Rickie Fowler of Murrieta shot 69 and is tied for is tied for 19th.
For complete results, visit https://www.pgatour.com/competition/2019/shriners-hospitals-for-children-open/leaderboard.html
