Adam Schenk is the golfer who finally caught rookie Harry Hall of England at the top of the leaderboard, where he has been most of the last three days.
The 31-year-old Schenk (pictured), seeking his first PGA Tour victory, birdied the last hole to card a three-under-par 67 and is tied for the lead with Hall heading to the final round of the 77th Charles Schwab Challenge at famed Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
“Winning would be really cool,” said Schenk, who tied for third in the Valspar Championship earlier this season. “If I do, that’s awesome. If I don’t, that’s OK too. I’ll learn from it. But I’ll just go take care of my business tomorrow. Whatever happens, happens. I can’t control it. So I can just only control myself, and I’ll just try and do that to the best of my abilities.
“If I do that well and catch a few breaks, hopefully I have a chance on the back nine. You’re going to have to make some birdie putts from 10-to-20 feet. You’re going to have to roll in a couple that you normally wouldn’t make.
“It was a lot of luck making that last putt (on the final hole). It was a foot and a half of break and extremely fast, but it went in.”
Schenk, whose has two pro victories including the 2017 Lincoln Land Charity Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour, sank that 16-footer tie Hall with a 54-hole score of 10-under-par 200 after starting 66-67.
Hall, who has been in or near the lead since opening with a 62, lost the lead when he got wild off the tee and made back-to-back double-bogey 6s on the sixth and seventh holes, before making his only two birdies on the back nine in a 72.
“Yeah, to be tied for first after today is pretty cool, especially after that front nine,” said Hall, whose only pro victories came in the 2022 NV5 Old National Bank Invitational and the 2021 Wichita Open on the Korn Ferry Tour. “It goes to show how hard the course is, and I did a good job battling it back and getting those two birdies on that back nine.
“I’m never going to stop fighting. I’m always going to keep trying. Like I said yesterday, this game brings you new challenges every day, and I’m equipped to deal with them. And I think I showed that today, and I kept a lot of patience, and I kept to my game plan.
“I’m ready. Just get on the green and make some putts.”
Harris English, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour who is coming back from hip surgery, also was tied for the lead until he made a bogey on the last hole to finish at 70 and is one stroke behind in solo third.
Said English: “I think even-par is going to be a good score tomorrow. I don’t even know if it’s going to get it done, but it’s going to be tough out there.”
Justin Suh of San Jose and USC collected four of his five birdies on the first seven holes and made his lone bogey on the last in a 66 and is four shots back in a tie for fourth with Emiliano Grillo of Argentina, who sank a 19-foot eagle putt on the first hole and birdied the second, but struggled thee rest of the way to a 72.
Sixth-ranked Viktor Hovland of Norway made four birdies on the back nine in a 66 and is five behind in a tie for sixth with Kevin Streelman, who birdied the last hole of a 68, David Lipsky of Los Angeles, who also birdied No. 18 for a 69, and Byeong Hun An of South Korea, who made his only birdie on the first hole of a 72.
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler made three bogeys down the stretch for a 72 and is six strokes back in a big tie for 10th with Brian Harman, who had a bogey-free 67; Aaron Rai of England, who made two birdies down the stretch for another 67; Ben Martin, who had three birdies on the back nine in a 68; Chad Ramey, who made only one bogey in a 69, and Andrew Putnam of Pepperdine, who stumbled to four bogeys coming home in a 70.
Defending champion Sam Burns birdied the last hole for a 70 and is in a tie for 16th that includes seventh-ranked Max Homa of Valencia and Cal, who made two late birdies to wind up at 71.
For complete results and final round tee times, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard
