Joaquin Niemann, Tom Lewis share lead at Rocket Mortgage Classic

JACKSON, Miss. — Sergio Garcia made it look as simple as closing his eyes and waking up to a share of the 54-hole lead, keeping a clean card on his way to a 6-under 66 and a three-way tie at the top Saturday in the Sanderson Farms Championship. In his debut at the Country Club of Jackson with its pure, fast greens, Garcia stuck to his routine of closing his eyes over putts to get a better feel. He converted most of his chances to share the lead with J.T. Poston and Cameron Davis. They were at 14-under 202 going into a final round in which 10 players were separated by four shots. RELATED: Full Sanderson Farms leaderboard | Why Garcia is putting with his eyes closed Davis opened with five straight birdies, and the Australian’s biggest highlight was a fairway metal into 10 feet for eagle on the par-5 14th hole that carried him to a 9-under 63. He was the first to post at 202, and then Garcia and Poston caught up to him. Poston reached 15 under with a two-putt birdie on the 14th and a pitch from the rough to 4 feet on the reachable par-4 15th. But he was too steep on a bunker shot on the 16th, coming up 30 feet short and leading to bogey. Poston stayed in a tie by saving par from a bunker on the 18th with a 12-foot putt for a 69. Brandt Snedeker, looking confident with that pop of a putting stroke, shot a 67 and was one shot behind along with Kristoffer Ventura, the former Oklahoma State Cowboy from Norway who had a 68. For Keegan Bradley, it was a battle. Staked to a two-shot lead going into the weekend, he had three bogeys on the front nine before he hit a hybrid from 255 yards to 15 feet for an egle on the 11th hole. He finished with seven pars for a 73, though he was very much in the picture. Bradley was at 12-under 204 along with Aaron Wise (67) and Dan McCarthy (69). Garcia is trying to extend a streak in which he has won somewhere around the world each of the last nine years dating to 2011, which also was the last time he was outside the top 50 in the world. Garcia slipped out to No. 51 this week and decided to play the Sanderson Farms Championship for the first time. He also reverted to putting with his eyes closed, which he said he has done at various points during his career, including the 2017 Masters that he won in a playoff with Justin Rose. That Masters is the last time Garcia had a share of the 54-hole lead on the PGA TOUR. Charley Hoffman had a 72 and was four shots behind along with Tyler McCumber, a runner-up last week in the Dominican Republic, who shot 66 to get back in the picture for a final round that figures to be wide open.

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• COURSE: TPC Deere Run, 7,268 yards, par 71. Built on rolling landscape alongside the Rock River, D.A. Weibring’s 1999 design deftly mixes scenic views and risk/reward challenge on a site that once housed a long-ago tribal village and later an Arabian horse-breeding operation. Weibring used dramatic elevation changes to frame several holes, notably the downhill 14th that measures 361 yards and tempts long hitters to drive a green that offers punishment for shots either long or left. Typically a place that yields low scores, Deere Run carved its place in the record book seven years ago when Paul Goydos carded just the fourth 59 recorded on the PGA TOUR. Eventual winner Steve Stricker shot 60 that day. • FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. • CHARITY: The John Deere Classic has raised more than $70 million for Quad Cities charities since its 1971 inception, most of it generated by its “Birdies for Charity� program. The tournament annually ranks No.1 in charity donations per capita on the PGA TOUR. • FIELD WATCH: 2012 champion and JDC board member Zach Johnson tops the roster, joined FedEx St. Jude Classic winner Daniel Berger and Dean & Deluca Invitational champ Kevin Kisner. … In all, six of this season’s tournament winners and seven of the FedExCup top 30 will tee it up at Deere Run. … Stricker, whose three-peat from 2009-11 still stands as the last time anyone has captured the same PGA TOUR event three straight years, returns for his 16th appearance. … Two of the top four players in the world amateur rankings are set to play on sponsor invites. Maverick McNealy, whose 11 tournament wins at Stanford matched that of Tiger Woods and Patrick Rodgers, holds the No.2 ranking and former Illinois standout Dylan Meyer stands fourth. • 72-HOLE RECORD: 258, Steve Stricker (2010). • 18-HOLE RECORD: 59, Paul Goydos (1st round, 2010). • LAST YEAR: Ryan Moore collected his fifth PGA TOUR victory, playing bogey-free over his final 46 holes to finish off a two-stroke win over Ben Martin. Three birdies on Deere Run’s front nine pushed Moore to a five-shot advantage on the final day, throttling back with pars after the turn while Martin used a three-birdie run to pull within two. That was the closest anyone got, though, as Moore left no opening down the stretch in a closing 67. Moore carded just one bogey over the entire week, notching his first win since 2014 in Malaysia. The performance began a run of four top-10 finishes in six starts for Moore – three in the FedExCup playoffs – to place seventh in the final FedExCup standings. It also earned the former UNLV standout a captain’s selection to the U.S. Ryder Cup team, where he helped the Americans celebrate their first win since 2008. • STORYLINES: Johnson, a Cedar Rapids native, owns six top-three finishes in his past eight visits, with three runner-up finishes go to with his 2012 win. He’s a combined 133-under par in that stretch; last year’s second-day 71 ended a run of 29 consecutive rounds in the 60s. … Stricker, who owns three top-16 finishes this season in just eight starts, seeks again to become the Classic’s first four-time winner. He also has four top-10 finishes in five starts on the PGA TOUR Champions. … The final Open Championship berth next week awaits the highest top-5 finisher who hasn’t already punched his ticket to Royal Birkdale. • SHORT CHIPS: A total of 15 entrants at Deere Run already have qualified for next week’s Open lineup, including Moore and 2015 champion golfer Johnson. A charter flight awaits them Sunday night, provided by Deere Classic officials each year to fly them across the Atlantic. … The University of Illinois again is well-represented with five entrants – Stricker, Meyer, D.A. Points, Brian Campbell and current Illini golfer Nick Hardy. Friday traditionally is designated as Illini Day at Deere Run. • TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). • PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. (featured groups), 4-7 p.m. (featured holes). • RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com). For more on all the courses in the TPC network, visit TPC.com.  Play where the pros play. To book your tee time at TPC Deere Run, visit TeeOff.com.

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