Beau Hossler sank a 30-foot putt on the final hole to cap a bogey-free 5-under-par 66 in windy conditions and tied J.J. Spaun for the lead after three rounds of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.
Hossler, the 22-year-old from Mission Viejo who played college golf at Texas, is coming off a tie for 10th in the Sanderson Farms Championship last week that is his best finish on the PGA Tour since turning pro earlier this year.
“It was one of those days you couldn’t get ahead of yourself at all,” said Hossler, who also holed a 52-foot birdie putt at No. 7. “As soon as you do that, you get yourself in trouble. I just tried to keep the ball on the fairway and keep it below the hole as much as possible and manage my game. To get out of there bogey free is kind of a miracle, to be honest.
“Coming from Southern California, you’re kind of in a bubble with perfect weather and no wind. That was part of the reason I went to Texas. When I go to school, playing in this kind of wind fairly regularly, not all the time. Certainly there were some windy days in Texas. So that experience has really helped me. I feel like I can control my ball in the wind a little bit better. Also, underrated. It’s sneaky hard to putt when it’s windy.”
Spaun, from Los Angeles and San Diego State, rallied after making three bogeys on the first five holes to salvage a 73 and shares the lead with Hossler at 9-under 204.
Tony Finau sank a 12-foot eagle putt on the ninth hole en route to this third straight 69 and is three back in solo third, while Tom Hoge birdied his first three holes and finished with 12 straight pars for a 67 and is another shot back in a tie for fourth with Gary Woodland, who shot 68, Chesson Hadley, who had a 69, and Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos and UCLA, who wound up at 70.
Troy Merritt posted a 70 and is four strokes down in a tie for eighth with Whee Kim, who finished at 72, while Charley Hoffman of Poway and UNLV shot 71 and is one more shot back in a tie for 10th with Bryson DeChambeau (71) of Clovis, John Huh (71) of Los Angeles and Cal State Northridge, J.T. Poston (70), Brian Stuard (69), Kevin Tway (71), William McGirt (69) and Aaron Baddeley (74) of Australia.
Defending champion Rod Pampling of Australia is tied for 55th after a 72.
For complete results, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html.
