Seung-Yul Noh of South Korea fired his second bogey-free 7-under-par 65 in three days to take a two-stroke lead over Keegan Bradley into the final round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La.
The 22-year-old Noh, who has three victories as a pro including the 2010 Maybank Malaysian Open on the European Tour, rattled off three of his seven birdies in a row through No. 16 to seize the lead while playing bogey-free for the third consecutive day.
“The first two days, my ball-striking was really good and I had a lot of chances for birdies and some easy pars,” said Noh, whose last victory came in the 2013 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship on the Web.com Tour. “But today, I had to chip and scramble for par a little more, but I was able to get up-and-down.
“I’ll just try to keep doing the same things (in the final round). Playing with a good player like Keegan (in the final group) is not a problem. I’ll just try to keep it going like the first three days.”
Bradley, the 2011 PGA champion who is seeking his fourth PGA Tour victory and first since the 2012 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, carded eight bogeys and a single bogey at No. 9 while also shooting 65.
Robert Streb, who has three pro victories including the 2012 Mylan Open on the Web.com Tour, posted a bogey-free 68 and was alone in third, three shots behind.
Ben Martin, who led after each of the first two rounds, struggled to a 73 and was four shots back in a tie for fourth with Jeff Overton, who recorded a 67, and Andrew Svoboda, who had a 70.
Paul Casey of England rang up six birdies on the back nine in a 64 that was the low score of the day, and was five strokes back in a tie for seventh with Charley Hoffman of Poway and UNLV, who came in at 68.
