Harris English shot 66 at Torrey Pines South and will enter Sunday’s finale of the Farmers Insurance Open in the pole position on 9 under, one clear of Andrew Novak.
Entering the round in a tie for seventh on -3, the 35-year-old Georgia native got off to a somewhat slow start with five straight pars. English finished his final 13 holes, however, with seven birdies, highlighted by a hat trick on Nos. 16, 17 and 18 to reach 9 under.
“Yeah, just managed my game really well,” said English, who seeks his fifth PGA Tour victory. “I wouldn’t say I hit the ball great starting out, but missed it in the right spots and then leaned on my short game and made some really good putts to save par starting out.
“Kind of got the round going, start hitting some really good iron shots and making some putts, getting some momentum. I felt like I hit the ball really well on the back nine.
“I don’t think I really hit many fairways, but to me I hit the ball really well. I mean, I’ve played this place for a long time now and I feel like I know where to miss it, where to be aggressive and where to be patient and kind of have a yellow light pin of not being aggressive, too. I feel like I picked my spots really well today and it’s nice when you’re seeing some putts go in.”
One back was Novak, who also shot 66, which included a bogey-free scorecard, to sit 8 under.
“Game is good. It’s been really solid all week,” said Novak, who is in search of his maiden PGA Tour win. “I feel like I’ve been hitting it well, short game’s been super solid. I just haven’t made a lot of putts, but I’ve been patient, a lot of them have been very close. Then last 10 or 11 holes, just got hot.
“All the ones that were just missing by tiny margins just started falling in. Just had to be patient and finally got them to go.”
Aldrich Potgieter (67) was alone on third on 7 under, one clear of a foursome at -6, which included K.H. Lee (68), Matti Schmid (68), Joel Dahmen (70) and Lanto Griffin (73).
2025 Farmers Insurance Open
Top 5 Leaders: 54 Holes
Pos-Player-To Par (Rd 3)
1. Harris English -9 (-6)
2. Andrew Novak -8 (-6)
3. Aldrich Potgieter -7 (-5)
4. K.H. Lee -5 (-4)
4. Matti Schmid -5 (-4)
4. Joel Dahmen -5 (-2)
4. Lanto Griffin -5 (+1)
PGA Tour media press release and post-round notes used to compile recap.
