Harris English cards 62 to take two-shot lead at WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

Here are nine tidbits from the third round of the Quicken Loans National that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm hosts for the second time and measures 7,107 yards (Par-70). Know Thy Enemy These were the top-10 selected golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game presented by SERVPRO. As the temperatures rose on Saturday the scoring continued to drop for the second day in a row. The course record set on Friday by Streelman was equaled by Abraham Ancer on Saturday. Ancer and Molinari both posted 197 (-13) and will be the last pairing off No. 1 tee Sunday afternoon. Neither has won on TOUR before and they are two shots clear of the field. Of the eight players within five shots only four have won on TOUR before but Woods isn’t out of it just yet as he’s six back. Round of the Week Part II Don’t wake him up! Abraham Ancer tied the course record today with eight birdies and a clean card. For the week he’s squared only two bogeys and has been playing lights-out. He’s second in SG: off the tee, third tee to green and first in scrambling. His putter isn’t holding him back either as he’s ninth in SG: putting. Since his career-best T8 at the Houston Open he’s MC in four of his last eight with his best payday cashing for T42. It’s a very big day for him tomorrow but living in Norman, Oklahoma, I know the heat won’t get to him! The Favorite The other half of the final pairing also has only made two bogeys all week but has a much deeper resume. Francesco Molinari hasn’t won on TOUR but he did beat an elite field last month as he won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on the European Tour. Molinari won’t be intimidated by Ancer or his excellent numbers tomorrow as the former Ryder Cup player is leading the field in SG: tee to green and GIR and is seventh in fairways. Winning the first one is always the toughest but he’s the favorite tomorrow The Tiger The hump is still there and it’s spectacular as Tiger Woods cannot find the magic on the back nine on Saturday. Out in 32 with five birdies and within two of the lead, the greatest of this generation couldn’t keep the momentum going. He came home in 36 with only one birdie and sits six back entering the final round. It’s not a hard case to crack as he hit six fairways and got up-and-down once in five tries. He’ll need one of those special rounds we haven’t seen yet if he’s going to crack the code Sunday. The Defending Champ Many of us (raises hand) have Kyle Stanley in multiple formats this week and it’s nice to see him bounce back with 67-66 after his opening round 71. He didn’t have his best stuff tee-to-green as he only hit seven fairways and just 10 GIR but he scrambled all of the eggs and made omelets to lead the field in SG: around the green. Chasing the Final Pairing Ryan Armour was the only player of the 36-hole triumvirate to hold it together in Round 3 and will begin Sunday in the second-to-last group with Zac Blair. Armour’s blue-collar 68 included four squares and six circles but he birdied three of his final six to join Blair just two back. … Blair is making his 13th start of the season and his best previous payday is T16 but that was last October. His best finish in 2018 was T36 at the Valero Texas Open, another demanding layout. He’s doing everything well this week and a podium finish will go a very long way to having full membership next year. Let’s see how he handles the pressure as his only podium on TOUR was the 2016 Sony Open. Moving Day Gamers who have been on the scent of Ryan Blaum over the last few weeks will be acutely aware of his 64 in Round 3. He’s up 35 spots to T10 as he looks to finish T18 or better for the fourth time in five tries. … Bronson Burgoon hasn’t had a top 10 in 16 previous events this season but his bogey-free 65 on moving day shot him up 26 spots to T10. … Former event champ Troy Merritt has buried his demons from his 66-82 MC in 2017 with a pair of 68’s to make the cut. His 66 in Round 3 moved him up 13 spots to T7. … Anirban Lahiri fired 65 last Saturday at TPC River Highlands. He signed for 65 this Saturday at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farms and moved up 41 spots to T25, the biggest mover of the day. He’ll need another low one Sunday to match his T9 from last week. Moving Day: Wrong Way Gamers were inquiring why I didn’t address Billy Horschel yesterday. The simple is answer is I don’t have time and room for everyone. He dropped from T4 to T34 if you’re wondering how Round 3 went. … Kevin Streelman backed up his course record 62 with 67 in Round 3 and is sixth. J.J. Spaun backed up his course record 63 from Round 1 with 73-73 and is now T49. … Joaquin Niemann is uber-talented but his 74 dropped him 11 spots to T49. He’s still learning but doesn’t have far to go. That happens with youngsters! Study Hall The scoring average dipped to the lowest point of the week as Saturday’s 69.860 (-0.140) bested that of Round 1 69.992 (-0.008) and Round 2 69.908 (-0.092). … There’s no wind and the refrain from the players is the course is not as firm and baked out as last year. The 54-hole leader last year was David Lingmerth on 203 (-7). That was also Stanley’s winning score. Not this year! … First round co-leader Andrew Landry dusted himself off after a disappointing 72 in Round 2 with 65 in Round 3 and sits fifth. … C.T. Pan (67-67) broke his driver on No. 14 in Round 1 but the new piece in his bag didn’t hold him back in Round 2. His bogey-free 68 on Saturday was just one of three for the round joining Ancer and Burgoon. He’s currently T7.

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – J.B. Holmes roared through the fan-packed closing stretch at TPC Scottsdale on his opening nine Friday, then grabbed the lead on the mellower side of golf’s biggest party. Six months after a final-round collapse at The Open Championship, Holmes took a one-stroke lead into the weekend at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He shot a 6-under 65, a day after making a hole-in-one in an opening 64. “There’s going to be a lot of people. It’s going to be really loud,” Holmes said. “Just keep doing what I’ve been doing, hopefully, keep making putts and not change the strategy. It’s worked pretty good so far.” In July at Royal Portrush, Holmes had a share of the second-round lead with winner Shane Lowry, then shot 69-87 to tie for 67th. The setback spoiled an otherwise successful season highlighted by an early victory at Riviera Country Club. Related: Leaderboard | Amy paying it forward | Spieth misses cut, continues search for his best The 37-year-old from Kentucky got away from the game during the offseason, playing only two rounds in four months leading into the new year. He shook off the rust at Kapalua and got back in form last week at Torrey Pines with a tie for 16th. Holmes played a five-hole stretch on his first nine in 5 under with birdies on the par-5 13th and 15th and par-3 16th, and an eagle on the short par-4 17th. He made a 16-footer from the back fringe on the stadium 16th, then drove to 6 1/2 to set up the eagle on the 319-yard 17th. “I was just worried about it maybe going too far left,” Holmes said. “But when I hit it, I thought I hit it about right and hopefully it would hit into that bank or bounce just up and it did.” He bogeyed the par-4 18th and took the lead from Wyndham Clark with birdies on the par-4 first and par-5 third. Holmes chipped in for birdie on the par-4 sixth and gave back the stroke on the par-4 ninth after hitting into a greenside bunker. “Hit it really good in the middle of the round,” Holmes said. “Didn’t hit it quite as good toward the end, but putted really well and was able to make some birdies.” Holmes won at TPC Scottsdale in 2006 and 2008 for the first of his five PGA TOUR titles. “That was when I just came out, so I could move it a little bit better,” Holmes said. “I still get it out there, but the golf course has changed more than anything. Like, 12 holes are different.” Clark was second, following a career-best 61 with a 69. He finished with birdies on 17 and 18. “It was kind of a rough start. I was all over the place,” Clark said. “I didn’t feel great with my swing, but then I kind of hit two good shots on eight and nine that led to the back side.” Bill Horschel was third at 11 under after rounds of 63 and 68. He eagled No. 3 for the second straight day. “I’ve just hit really good fairway woods in there,” Horschel said. “Hit a perfect 5-wood in there yesterday and today was a perfect high, cut, soft 3-wood into that green and landed it in the only soft spot I guess there is on that green early in the morning when the greens are rock hard.” Byeong Hun An also was 11 under, holing a 20-foot birdie putt in fading light on 18 for a 66. Scott Piercy was 10 under after a 65. He had a hole-in-one on the 194-yard seventh and eagled 13. “Whenever you make a hole-in-one in Phoenix it’s pretty awesome,” Piercy said. “But I just did it on the wrong side where everybody didn’t see it.” Jon Rahm was 7 under after a 68. After five straight birdies, he bogeyed two of the last three. “Frustrated is a very light way of putting it right now,” Rahm said. “I put a great swing on five birdies, playing great golf, and then just an absolutely terrible finish.” Defending champion Rickie Fowler rebounded from an opening 74 with a 65 to get to 6 under. He eagled the par-5 13th and 15th. “Just put myself in play and was able to just work my way around the golf course,” Fowler said. Fourth-ranked Justin Thomas was 6 under after his second straight 68. Jordan Spieth missed the cut with rounds of 74 and 69. “Historically, I’ve had a really hard time putting, reading these greens and it just continued this week,” Spieth said. “Felt like I put good strokes on it and then I would look up and I missed them by like a foot off line. But overall I’m really happy with the progress I’ve made off the tee. That was the best I’ve driven the ball in a couple years.”

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ATLANTA –  FedExCup leader Jordan Spieth knows he doesn’t need to win the TOUR Championship to walk away with the PGA TOUR’s biggest prize. There’s a plethora of hypotheticals that would see him finish atop the FedExCup standings even if he doesn’t shoot the lowest score this week at East Lake Golf Club. Spieth hasn’t studied the scenarios, though. “And I’m not interested in it, to be honest,â€� he said. He knows several strong players are nipping at his heels, all of whom want to supplant him atop the FedExCup standings. He doesn’t want to leave his fate in their hot hands. There is just one way he can ensure FedExCup success: win the TOUR Championship. The top 5 in the standings are all in the same enviable position. And what a group it is. The FedExCup’s top 5 as we head into the season finale is the youngest and most fruitful top 5 in FedExCup history. The five men atop the TOUR’s season-long standings have combined for 15 wins in 2016-17 and their average age is 27.4. Both are FedExCup records. RELATED: Scenarios for each of the top 30 to win the FedExCup “The likelihood is the guys that have been playing really well, the guys that are hot, you’re likely to see toward the top of the leaderboard again,â€� Spieth said. The three players immediately behind Spieth the FedExCup standings – Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Marc Leishman – are the winners of the first three events of the FedExCup Playoffs. Three of the past four FedExCups have been won by a player who won one of the first three Playoffs events. The lone exception was Spieth in 2015. Spieth is looking to join Tiger Woods as the only players to win multiple FedExCups. Thomas is trying to put the perfect cap on his breakout season, just as Spieth did at the 2015 TOUR Championship. The two 24-year-olds have combined for eight wins this season, including two majors. Spieth’s three wins include The Open Championship and that dramatic bunker hole-out at the Travelers Championship. Thomas has won five times, fired a 59 and a record-setting 63 at the U.S. Open. Leishman, 33, is trying to replicate Billy Horschel’s hot finish to the 2014 FedExCup. Leishman, long respected as one of the game’s most underrated players, won last week’s BMW Championship to leap inside the top 5. It was his second win in his past 17 starts after he had just one win in his first 206. Johnson, also 33, is seeking redemption. It was at East Lake last year where he let both the TOUR Championship and FedExCup slip away with a final-round 73. He started Sunday tied for the lead, but his back-nine struggles opened the door for Rory McIlroy’s dramatic FedExCup-winning finish. “For me, it’s more about winning the TOUR Championship and becoming the FedExCup champion than it is about the money,â€� Johnson said. “Obviously that’s just a very nice bonus.â€� Rahm, the youngest member of the top 5, has finished in the top five at all three postseason events, the only player to do so. The 22-year-old is little more than a year removed from his college days at Arizona State. He’s trying to pull a Tom Brady by winning his sport’s biggest prize in his postseason debut. A FedExCup victory for Rahm would be unprecedented, as no player has won the top prize in his first trip to the Playoffs (outside of Woods and his win in the FedExCup’s first season). They’ll face a demanding East Lake course that requires strong ball-striking. Only once has a player gone lower than 13 under. The winning score has been single-digits under par in five of the 10 TOUR Championships at East Lake in the FedExCup era. “One of the things I always loved about East Lake … is that you can’t fake it,â€� said NBC commentator Jim “Bonesâ€� Mackay, the longtime caddie for two-time TOUR Championship winner Phil Mickelson. “Typically the guy that plays the best this week is going to win. … You really have to show up and play. I think that’s terrific for a tournament of this magnitude.â€� That will be especially true this year with such a strong leading contingent in the FedExCup standings. Four of the past five FedExCup champions were ranked inside the top 5 when they arrived at East Lake Golf Club. The exception? McIlroy, who was No. 6 before hoisting two trophies on that Sunday evening at East Lake last year. This season’s top 5 all have had successful seasons. Now have one more opportunity to add the perfect finishing touch. The season finale will be anything but a stroll to the finish line. It will be a sprint. The stakes are too high. Take Thomas’ word for it. “It doesn’t matter who you are or how much you’ve achieved, you always want more,â€� he said.

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