Stewart Cink maintains five-shot lead at RBC Heritage

ATLANTA – And then there were three. The TOUR Championship had turned into a runaway for Patrick Cantlay when he made four birdies in a stretch of five holes for a four-shot lead over Jon Rahm and an eight-shot lead over 2017 FedExCup champ Justin Thomas halfway through round three at East Lake. But “Patty Ice” – the moniker he earned with clutch putting in winning the BMW Championship – cracked a little with bogeys at the 11th, 14th and 16th holes. After an uneven 67, he leads by two over Rahm (68) and a five over Thomas (65) going into Sunday’s final round. The lead would have been one and four, respectively, but Cantlay sank a 23-foot birdie on 18. “I enjoy pressure golf because it’s everything I’ve practiced to do,” he said. Cantlay had not historically played East Lake well, with his best in three starts a T20. He hadn’t even made it to the 30-man TOUR Championship since 2019. But on Sunday, when he will play with Rahm for the 21st time in his career, he will be playing for the $15 million first prize, plus, very likely, Player of the Year honors as the only player with four wins this season. Rahm, meanwhile, could make the argument for Player of the Year if he gets it done on Sunday. It would give the world No. 1 two big wins this season – U.S. Open, TOUR Championship – and the FedExCup. He also is on track to win the scoring title and lead the TOUR with 15 top-10s. It’s been a peculiar season for Thomas, a former world No. 1 who has dropped to sixth. Since his epic comeback victory at THE PLAYERS Championship in March he has notched just one top-10 finish, a T4 at THE NORTHERN TRUST to open the FedExCup Playoffs last month. Also, Thomas has hit just 12 of 28 fairways the last two days. “I gained some shots on the leaders today, and that’s what’s most important,” he said. Said Rahm, who was in negative numbers in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green for the third round, “Not my best. Great off the tee, I must say … Just wasn’t as sharp as I wanted to be with my irons. It was one of those days where there was a lot of in-between numbers.” Kevin Na (66, 13 under) has an outside chance at seven back. Abraham Ancer (bogey-free 65) and 2014 FedExCup winner Billy Horschel (67) are 10 back. Cantlay began the week with a four-shot lead over Rahm and a six-shot lead over Thomas. The No. 1 seed and 54-hole leader’s closing birdie on 18 seemed potentially bigger than just one shot, given that Thomas three-putted the hole for his only bogey and Rahm could only manage a par. “I thought it was big for momentum,” Cantlay said. “It was a nice putt to make, especially being out of position on that hole. And I’ll take that momentum into tomorrow.” Four of Rahm’s five TOUR wins have come when he’s trailed through 54 holes. For Thomas, it’s six out of 14. He was hoping to be just four back – he was three behind leader Lee Westwood through three rounds at THE PLAYERS – but now the number is five. Rahm said he was proud of himself for finding a way to hang in there without his best stuff, giving himself a chance Sunday. Meanwhile, “Patty Ice” Cantlay just keeps pressing ever closer to FedExCup history. “Getting in that moment is exactly why I’ve practiced for all those hours growing up and all those hours my whole life,” he said. “And so getting to do it when it’s important, I mean, that’s exactly why I play golf. I love it.”

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Payne retires as Augusta National chairman

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The PGA TOUR and GameOn Technology, with its industry-leading engagement platform, ChatOSâ„¢, today announced a new multi-year content and marketing relationship. Available for Facebook Messenger users at the start of the 2019-20 PGA TOUR Season, the TOUR chat platform and newly launched TOUR Chatbot allow fans to ask questions and get information about tournaments with instant access to leaderboards, video highlights, FedExCup standings, statistics, season schedules, news and tournament pages. “We are excited about GameOn’s ability to help us deliver interactive content in a convenient and timely manner to PGA TOUR fans around the world,â€� said Scott Gutterman, Vice President Digital Operations at the PGA TOUR. “The PGA TOUR has vast amounts of content and a diverse global audience looking to access that content around the clock, and this relationship with GameOn will help us provide that access.â€�  In developing the official TOUR Chatbot, GameOn will allow fans to tailor an experience around their favorite players, opting to receive player specific news, tee times, real-time highlights, pre- and post-tournament video, scoring data and editorial recaps. “For a league that’s always on, the TOUR Chatbot enables fans to stay intimately connected year-round no matter where they are,â€� said Kalin Stanojev, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer with GameOn Technology. “Our collaboration with the PGA TOUR represents a huge step towards addressing the evolving content delivery model of sports leagues and the changing habits of their fans, giving the PGA TOUR a new and unique way to authentically and creatively connect with fans across the world.â€�  To engage with the TOUR Chatbot, fans can simply message the PGA TOUR Facebook page or search for PGA TOUR within the Messenger platform. Over the course of the 2019-20 PGA TOUR Season, fans can expect to see additional functionality as well as expansion to other messaging platforms. The TOUR Chatbot is powered by ChatOS, GameOn’s proprietary end-to-end development and integration platform designed specifically for the future of messaging and voice applications. It streamlines the creation of content-driven premium user experiences and is also the first to bring ad monetization to chat. ChatOS connects directly to brands’ Content Management Systems (CMS), data sources and API feeds, allowing them to deploy content across a wide array of platforms and applications through chat experiences.

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