Thomas loses cushion, shares lead in Tour Championship

LA QUINTA, Calif. — Max Homa has been tearing up the Stadium Course at The American Express for two days. If he can do it one more time Sunday, the Southern California native could be raising his second career PGA TOUR trophy. RELATED: Leaderboard | Hubbard uses unique putting grip at The American Express Homa made nine birdies and shrugged off a double bogey on the way to a 7-under 65 in the third round Saturday, joining Tony Finau and Si Woo Kim atop the leaderboard at 15-under 201. Richy Werenski also shot a 65 and moved within a shot of the lead on the Stadium Course at PGA WEST near Palm Springs. Scotland’s Russell Knox shot the day’s low round with a 64 — one stroke off the course record — to join Brian Harman and Emiliano Grillo at 13 under. Finau and Kim both shot 67. Kim was bogey-free, while the streakier Finau bounced back from a double bogey on the 13th with three consecutive birdies. The field played through sparse desert rain in the afternoon. Precipitation finally fell in earnest when the final group reached the 18th hole, with Finau and Kim forced to pull out their umbrellas. Second-round leader Sungjae Im struggled to a 73, leaving him five shots off the lead after four bogeys — including a triple bogey on the ninth after putting two straight shots in the water. First-round leader Brandon Hagy shot a 72 and was even with Im at 10 under. Homa is in prime position for his second career win in his first tournament of the new year. He began the day just three shots off Im’s pace at 8 under, and he swiftly closed the gap with four birdies in his first five holes. Homa has 17 birdies in the last two rounds on the Stadium Course. “There’s obviously a handful of very daunting holes, but I’ve been fortunate enough to play here a ton, so I have a pretty good feel for the place,” Homa said. “I’ve been able to put myself in a position to have good looks for birdie, and I’ve been putting great. It’s just something about these greens. It feels like home.” The Burbank-born son of a well-known acting coach put his tee shot in the water and two-putted for that double bogey on the seventh, but Homa made up for it with birdies on five of his next eight holes, including three in a row down the back stretch. Finau put his tee shot in the water on the 13th and then missed a 10-inch putt for double bogey, but the Utah native rebounded with three of his eight birdies on a series of impressive approach shots. Werenski charged into fourth with a round that included six birdies and was highlighted by an eagle on the fifth after an exceptional 224-yard approach shot left him a 4-foot putt. The 29-year-old Massachusetts native is seeking his second PGA TOUR win. After going bogey-free through his first 48 holes at The American Express, he finally missed a 10-foot par putt on the 13th before rallying with two more birdies down the stretch. “I’ve been giving myself plenty of looks and just haven’t been converting them, and today I finally made some (putts),” Werenski said. “So I think we’re kind of turning the corner.. … I’ve always liked this place. I’ve never finished really, really high here, but I’ve always known that I could play really good. It just fits my eye.” Australia’s Cameron Davis had the shot of the day on the 15th, holing out for eagle from 157 yards away from a section of rough below the fairway. Davis finished the third round at 12-under 204 along with Rory Sabbatini, Chase Seiffert, Francesco Molinari and Doug Ghim.

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The last regular-season tournament is the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield CC in Greensboro, North Carolina. The course is a par 70, measuring 7,131 yards. The greens this week will be Champion bermuda. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $750K Flop Shot [$200K to 1st] STRATEGY As mentioned, this is the last stop before the FedExCup Playoffs, which is vital for a few golfers in the field. After this week, the top 125 golfers in FedExCup (FEC) standings will play at Liberty National for the first leg of the playoffs. Golfers like Rickie Fowler (+5500, $8,600), Tommy Fleetwood (+4500, $9,700), Justin Rose (+7000, $8,000) and Francesco Molinari (+13000, $6,800) are inside the top 140 but currently outside the top 125; they’ll need a solid finish at Sedgefield CC this week to increase their chances of making the trip to New Jersey next week. Sedgefield CC is a reasonably straightforward Donald Ross design. Over the previous five years, the average winning score is 21.2 under par. Last year’s winner, Jim Herman (+15000, $6,900), ending up shooting 61 on Saturday and 63 on Sunday, totaling 16-under par over the weekend. We should see a ton of birdies and more eagles than usual this week, and the golfers we choose should be proficient in both over the longer timeframes or at least trending well leading into the tournament. The fairways are tree-lined, and accuracy Off-the-Tee is more critical than sheer distance. The green complexes are challenging with undulations and runoff areas into tight lies around the greens. The greens are Championship bermuda, which the golfers putt on last week at TPC Southwind. The Country Club of Jackson (Sanderson Farms) is another course with a similar green type. A solid putting week and precise iron play, especially with wedges, are paramount to success, particularly on the eight par 4s measuring between 400 to 450 yards. There are five water hazards, which come into play on six holes. You’ll hear a lot about who’s on the “bubble” needing a solid week, and while that is the case, it shouldn’t be weighted too much in your decision making this week. Instead, look at building a DraftKings roster with expensive golfers and cheap options this week. Last year, Jim Herman was $6,100, and 2019 winner J.T. Poston was $7,300. The course sets up for all types of games, and our lineups should reflect that this week. GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Sungjae Im (+3000 to Win, $9,600 on DraftKings) It hasn’t been great for Sungjae, finishing outside the top 40 in his last two events. Over the previous three months, his best finish was an eighth-place at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, another Donald Ross design. While there isn’t a ton of correlation between Detroit Golf Club and Sedgefield CC, we should feel confident that we’re back on bermuda, a green surface Sungjae prefers. Yes, he lost 4.6 strokes putting last week on similar greens. Still, his long-term putting splits on bermuda are fantastic, and we should be treating last week as a potential outlier. His ball-striking hasn’t been elite, but he’s gained strokes with his irons in five-straight tournaments and gained 1.31 strokes with his irons in Memphis over the weekend. He’s done well on similar courses like Waialae CC (Sony Open) and Harbour Town GL (RBC Heritage), finishing inside the top 20 in both over his career. He’s finished no worse than ninth in his previous two appearances here and ranks 10th in Strokes Gained: Total over his last 24 rounds on Donald Ross designs. Sebastian Munoz (+5500 to Win, $8,200 on DraftKings) His ball-striking has been stellar over the past 12 rounds, ranking 11th in approach and just inside the top 45 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. His par 4 scoring on holes 400 to 450 yards is stupendous, ranking fourth over the previous dozen rounds. Munoz only has one career win, the 2019 Sanderson Farms, where he gained 6.9 strokes Tee-to-Green and 6.2 strokes putting; that’s what you’re going to need here. While CC of Jackson is not comparable to Sedgefield CC, they have similar green types, which bodes well for Munoz, who hasn’t been putting well of late. Brian Stuard (+10000 to Win, $6,900 on DraftKings) Few have been better with their irons over the previous 12 rounds, ranking ninth in approach heading into this week. With no worse than a 15th-place over his last three starts, Stuard is coming into the Wyndham with momentum. He’s exceptionally accurate Off-the-Tee and is putting well, ranking fourth on the greens over his last dozen rounds. Stuard’s only win was the 2016 Zurich Classic, the last year before it became a team event. If Stuard plays anything like he has been, he’s going to give himself an excellent chance to add another mark in the win column. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $750K Flop Shot [$200K to 1st] Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL). Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ/WV/PA/MI), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (NH/CO), 1-800-BETS OFF(IA), 1-888-532-3500 (VA) or call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN). 21+ (18+ NH). CO/IL/IN/IA/NH/NJ/PA/TN/VA/WV/MI only. Eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for full terms and conditions.

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