Russell Henley has a perfect game going.
Henley played bogey-free golf for the third straight day, shooting 6-under-par 65 to take a six-stroke lead over Patton Kizzire and Will Gordon to the final round of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba on El Camaleón Golf Course in Riviera Maya, Mexico.
“I didn’t play quite as well as I did the first two days, especially with my driver on the front nine,” said Henley, who opened with 63-63 in search of his fourth PGA Tour victory and first since the 2017 Shell Houston Open. “But I turned it around on the back nine and putted really well, making some big par saves.
“It’s always tough to win out here and I’m just trying to keep my confidence up. I’ve gone through some tough losses in my career when I’ve had the lead in the final round and just was unable to hang on, so I just have to learn from them.
“I’m playing at a pretty high level right now and just have to feel comfortable with the lead tomorrow.”
Henley, who also won three times on what is now the Korn Ferry Tour, birdied four of the first eight holes and added two birdies coming home to record a tournament-record 54-hole score of 22-under 191, the lowest on the PGA Tour this season by three strokes.
Kizzire, who won at Mayakoba in 2018 for one of his two PGA Tour victories, made five birdies on the first seven holes en route to a 67, while Gordon, the first-round leader at 62 who is seeking his first PGA Tour victory after winning the Albertsons Boise Open on the Korn Ferry Tour earlier this year for his first pro title, had three straight birdies on the back nine in a 68.
Seamus Power of Ireland, who won the Butterfield Bermuda Championship last week for his third pro victory, made a hole in one on the eighth hole and an eagle on the 11th in a bogey-free 63, and is seven shots behind in solo fourth, while Troy Merritt birdied the last three holes for a 65 and is one more down in a tie for fifth with left-hander Brian Harman, who had two birdies on each nine in a bogey-free 67.
“The hole-in-one, I think it was 138 (yards),” said Power, who also won the 2021 Barbasol Championship and the 2016 United Leasing & Finance Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour. “I hit it to maybe four feet on that hole Thursday, with the same numbers, very same winds, so I hit the same shot and it landed a foot long left and spun back in.
“Funny enough, on No. 11, I hit a wedge shot in there to a very similar pin to maybe like 10 inches yesterday, and today it just fell in. I had a couple of good visuals for those shots, which helps, but obviously need a lot of luck for those to actually fall in.”
Two-time defending champion Viktor Hovland of Norway eagled No. 13 on his way to a 66 and is nine strokes back in a tie for seventh with Thomas Detry of Belgium, who carded a bogey-free 64, Mattias Schwab of Austria, who had a bogey-free 66, and Greyson Sigg, who aced the 10th hole and added five birdies in a 67.
Ninth-ranked Collin Morikawa of La Canada Flintridge and Cal is tied for 14th after a 68 that included four birdies on the front nine, while second-ranked Scottie Scheffler also totaled 68 and is tied for 35th.
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