RBC Canadian Open, Round 3: Leaderboard, tee times, TV times

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Brandt Snedeker held a three-stroke lead Saturday in the Wyndham Championship when the third round was suspended because of severe weather. Snedeker was 16 under for the tournament with 11 holes left in the round at the final event of the PGA TOUR’s regular season. Brian Gay was 13 under through 12 holes, and Trey Mullinax, Keith Mitchell, C.T. Pan and D.A. Points were another stroke back at varying stages of their rounds. Thirty players were still on the course when play was halted during the mid-afternoon with thunder booming and a threat of lightning. After a 3-hour, 23-minute delay, organizers chose to hold things up overnight and resume the round at 8 a.m. Sunday. When things resume, Snedeker — who opened with a 59 to become the first TOUR player this year and just the 10th ever to break 60 — will look to keep himself in position to contend for his ninth victory on tour and his first since the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open. The 2012 FedExCup champion won the tournament in 2007, the year before it moved across town to par-70 Sedgefield Country Club. Snedeker’s final 11 holes of the round could wind up being telling: In seven of the 10 previous years since the tournament’s move to this course, the third-round leader or co-leader has gone on to win. And every leader who finished the third round here at 16 under or better has wound up winning, including Henrik Stenson (16 under) last year and Si Woo Kim (18 under) in 2016. Snedeker started the day off strong, rolling in a 60-foot chip for birdie on the par-4 second hole, then pushed his lead to three strokes with a birdie on No. 5 that moved him to 16 under. But after he sank a short par putt on the seventh, thunder boomed and the horn sounded to stop play. Gay was 12 holes into a second consecutive strong round when the delay struck. After shooting a 63 in the second round, he had four birdies and an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole. He placed his 200-yard second shot 10 feet from the flagstick and sank the putt.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – History does not favor Si Woo Kim this week. No champion of THE PLAYERS Championship has successfully defended in the 44 years of the tournament. The best result by a defending champ are the T-5s posted by Jack Nicklaus (1977), Tom Kite (1990) and Hal Sutton (2001). More to the point, the defending champ rarely finds himself in contention, and is more apt to miss the cut. Since Sutton’s result, the last 16 results by the defending PLAYERS champ includes four missed cuts, a WD, a DNP and just one top-10 finish – by Adam Scott, who tied for eighth in 2005. A year ago, Jason Day tied for 60th after shooting a final-round 80. Meanwhile, Kim became the youngest champ in PLAYERS history, winning by three strokes. It was an unexpected victory – and Kim continued to produce the unexpected Thursday. His 5-under 67 is the lowest opening score by a defending champ since the tournament moved to TPC Sawgrass in 1982. Had he not stumbled down the stretch with bogeys in two of his last three holes, he would’ve been the first-round leader. “I played great,� said the 22-year-old Korean, who began his round off the 10th tee and was a bogey-free 7 under for his first 14 holes. “… I liked the score in the first round, but I can hit it better.� Day arrived at TPC Sawgrass in 2017 still dealing with issues involving his mother’s battle with cancer. It did not leave him in the proper frame of mind to defend, but he also acknowledged that it’s difficult to defend in a tournament that produces the best field of the season. “This tournament is heightened,� he said. “The level of it just goes up every single year. I think it gets closer and closer to a major championship feel every single year that we play, and I feel like a lot of the guys think that it’s a major championship.� And just like a major, there are few successful defenses. The last one came at the Open Championship in 2008 when Padraig Harrington won at Royal Birkdale. Since the end of World War II, a total of 289 majors have been played – and the defending champ has won just 14 times, a success rate of less than 5 percent. Of course, that’s still better than the zero percent for defending PLAYERS champ. Asked after his round Thursday about what it would mean to be the first player to achieve that feat, Kim replied, “I feel like it would be dreaming, but that’s too hard. This is just the first round. I’m going to keep working hard.� Probably a wise move. Not only is he battling the best field in golf, he’s battling history. Notables Bubba Watson has made 10 starts at TPC Sawgrass. His best result was a T-37 in 2013. But his opening 68 – which ties for his lowest score in his last 21 rounds here – has him on personal-best pace. “Every time I come here, I’m just trying to beat 37,� Watson said. “I’m no good around this place. It’s very difficult for me because of the sights off the tee, some of the trees. It makes me fear hitting shots that I want to hit.� On Thursday he hit a respectable 10 fairways and 13 greens. Rule, Britannia? The English group of Justin Rose (68), Tommy Fleetwood (69) and Ian Poulter (70) combined for 9 under. Neither Poulter nor Rose, the two veterans, could ever remember playing in an all-English threesome at a PGA TOUR event. “I was alerted by the TOUR maybe last week some time that they were thinking about that group,� Rose said. “It was exciting to hear it.� It’ll be even more exciting if at least one of them can remain in contention Sunday, especially since no Englishman has ever won THE PLAYERS. Webb Simpson was among the attendees for a dinner local resident Jim Furyk hosted at his house Wednesday night for Ryder Cup hopefuls. Simpson is 23rd in the U.S. standings, but his 6-under 66 no doubt caught the captain’s attention. “I’ve still got a lot of work to do to get on the team, but it was nice to be there,� Simpson said. Jordan Spieth opened bogey-bogey-eagle-double en route to a 3-over 75. It wasn’t as bad it looked, though. During one three-hole stretch, he said he “lost three strokes with a total of 6 feet in the landing zone� and added that other than two bad swings, he “played good golf and just didn’t get rewarded for it.� Brooks Koepka, who recently returned to action after missing most of this year with an injured left wrist, re-aggravated the problem when he stopped in mid-swing during a practice session Wednesday in order to avoid a cart driver who had accidentally driven in front of him 15 yards away. “It’s the first time my strength actually backfired, to be strong enough to actually stop it,� said Koepka, who was hitting 3-iron stingers to practice for shots needed at the 18th hole. “He would’ve been dead. It was perfect timing.� Koepka iced the wrist overnight, then shot a bogey-free 2-under 70. Quotables My cut-to-top-6 ratio is pretty good.It’s hard not to have a smile on your face when you shoot 5 under at this place.I really don’t think I have anything to work on this afternoon. I think it’s time to go to the beach with the kids.

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What does this week's Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship have in common with the U.S. Open and the Masters? There are two editions of each during the 2020-21 PGA TOUR season. Like both previously scheduled editions of the majors, the 2020 Corales was bumped to the fall portion of this season due to the pandemic. As a result, it's a stand-alone tournament with 144 golfers chasing 500 FedExCup points for the victory. (The 2021 edition will return to its familiar status as an additional event in early spring.) Scroll past the projected contenders for consideration of the shift to early autumn, relevant tidbits of how the first two champions performed and details of the golf course. RELATED: Inside the Field | Preview the course, storylines POWER RANKINGS: CORALES PUNTACANA RESORT & CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP Henrik Stenson, Will Gordon, Patrick Rodgers and 2018 champion Brice Garnett will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday's Fantasy Insider. Corales sits on the western coast of the Dominican Republic. Because of its exposure to wind, fairways and greens are expansive across the stock par 72 that stretches 7,666 yards. Although this is hurricane season and exactly on the opposite end of the calendar, the weather will resemble when the first two editions of the tournament were contested in late March. Prevailing winds from a generally easterly direction will be steady but not punishing. Passing showers can't be ruled out but sunshine will dominate and contribute to daytime highs in the upper 80s. Because the test tee to green is relatively benign, it's probable that a putting contest will determine that champion for the third time in as many editions. Brice Garnett paced his field in putts per GIR en route to the inaugural title, as did the 2019 champ, Graeme McDowell. Both also led their respective fields in putting: birdies-or-better. (ShotLink is not utilized for this tournament, Strokes Gained data is not collected.) G-Mac's path to the victory also showcased how wild it can get at Corales. His opening 73 was the highest first round by any winner in all of 2018-19, and he still won outright (by one) at 18-under 270. The secondary objective is the first in execution; that is, to pile up scoring opportunities to set up the par breakers. The Supreme paspalum greens max at 11-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter, but undulations everywhere serve as defense. This elevates the ability to hit it close. Of course, more broadly, hitting greens in regulation will ease the pressure off average putters. After debuting with a scoring average of 71.499 in 2018, the 2019 field improved to the tune of 71.074. A considerable chunk of the reason why is found at The Devil's Elbow consisting of the par-4 16th, the par-3 17th and the par-4 18th holes. The first field averaged 0.368 strokes over par for the week, but with some experience logged, the scoring average improved to just 0.103 strokes over par the last time. Garnett played the trio in even par; McDowell scored 1-over. In addition to the full allocation of FedExCup points up for grabs, the winner will earn an exemption into the 2021 Masters. ROB BOLTON'S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM's Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Watch, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM's Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Wednesday.

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