Beau Hossler fired a 5-under-par 66 to move into a share of the lead with J.J. Spaun after three rounds at the Shriners Hospitals For Children Open.
The 22-year old Hossler, who got in just before the winds reached their peak of 30-40 mph, posted a bogey-free round, punctuated by a birdie on No. 18 to reach 9 under.
“To get out of there bogey-free is kind of a miracle, to be honest. I hit some nice saves with my short hand and my putter,” said Hossler, who finished T10 in Mississippi last week. “Like I said, if I can go tomorrow and keep the putter rolling, I feel good.”
Co-leader Spaun, playing in the final group with Kelly Kraft (79) and Robert Garrigus (77), got caught in the heaviest winds down the stretch, but survived to finish par-bogey-par over the final three holes, highlighted by a clutch par-saving 10-foot putt on 18.
“But, yeah, I kind of kept things together. Those last five holes were pretty brutal. So to not really give too many shots back on those holes, yeah, it’s not so bad as it looks,” said Spaun, 27, a San Diego State alum.
Tony Finau, one of the tournament favorites, offset a bogey on 12 with a pair of birdies on 13 and 15 to sign for a 2-under 69. The 28-year old is alone in third, and just three shots back at 6 under.
“Just keeping myself in this situation, and how I react. You learn a lot about yourself. I look forward to the challenge tomorrow, and I’m happy to be in contention,” said Finau, who hit 17 of 18 greens on Saturday.
Patrick Cantlay (70) played his first 17 holes to 3 under, and bogey free, but the young star got caught in the brutal winds on the final two holes, and paid for it with a double on 18.
The 25-year old Californian is tied for fourth at 5 under.
Also at 5 under is Chesson Hadley, who made birdies on 13, 15 and 16 to overcome a 1 over front nine and finish 2-under 69. Gary Woodland (68) and Tom Hage (67) are the others at T4.
First-round leader Whee Kim (72) also made a double on 18 to drop to T8, alongside Troy Merritt (70) at 4 under.
Eight players are T10 at 3 under, headlined by Charley Hoffman (71), Bryson DeChambeau (71), and Aaron Baddeley, who also doubled 18 to finish 3-over 74.
TOP 10: ROUND 3
T1 Beau Hossler -9
T1 J.J. Spaun -9
3 Tony Finau -6
T4 Tom Hoge -5
T4 Gary Woodland -5
T4 Chesson Hadley -5
T4 Patrick Cantlay -5
T8 Troy Merritt -4
T8 Whee Kim -4
T10 William McGirt -3
T10 Brian Stuard -3
T10 JT Poston -3
T10 Kevin Tway -3
T10 Bryson DeChambeau -3
T10 Charley Hoffman -3
T10 John Huh -3
T10 Aaron Baddeley -3
ROUND 3 HIGHLIGHTS
QUOTABLE
“Yeah, it’s going to be tough. Anytime you’re playing on the PGA Tour or even the Web.com tour, it’s so tough to win. These guys are so good, and the golf course, particularly on the PGA Tour, are very difficult. There is trouble all over. I think it’s so important to have a good game plan and stick it out.”
–Beau Hossler, Co-leader after 54 holes
LEADERBOARD
| P | PLAYER | T | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Beau Hossler | -9 | 66 |
| T1 | J.J. Spaun | -9 | 73 |
| 3 | Tony Finau | -6 | 69 |
| T4 | Tom Hoge | -5 | 67 |
| T4 | Gary Woodland | -5 | 68 |
| T4 | Chesson Hadley | -5 | 69 |
| T4 | Patrick Cantlay | -5 | 70 |
| T8 | Troy Merritt | -4 | 70 |
| T8 | Whee Kim | -4 | 72 |
| T10 | William McGirt | -3 | 69 |
| T10 | Brian Stuard | -3 | 69 |
| T10 | JT Poston | -3 | 70 |
| T10 | Kevin Tway | -3 | 71 |
| T10 | Bryson DeChambeau | -3 | 71 |
| T10 | Charley Hoffman | -3 | 71 |
| T10 | John Huh | -3 | 71 |
| T10 | Aaron Baddeley | -3 | 74 |
| T18 | A.J. McInerney | -2 | 70 |
| T18 | Luke List | -2 | 70 |
| T18 | Byeong Hun An | -2 | 69 |
| T18 | Ryan Moore | -2 | 71 |
| T18 | Ernie Els | -2 | 71 |
| T18 | Trey Mullinax | -2 | 69 |
| T18 | Seamus Power | -2 | 71 |
| T18 | Scott Stallings | -2 | 68 |
| T18 | Brandon Harkins | -2 | 73 |
| T18 | Scott Piercy | -2 | 68 |
| T18 | Kelly Kraft | -2 | 79 |
| T29 | Brandon Hagy | -1 | 71 |
| T29 | Roberto Diaz | -1 | 71 |
| T29 | Anirban Lahiri | -1 | 71 |
| T29 | Martin Flores | -1 | 70 |
| T29 | Ryan Blaum | -1 | 72 |
| T29 | Alex Cejka | -1 | 72 |
| T29 | Graeme McDowell | -1 | 72 |
| T29 | Aaron Wise | -1 | 70 |
| T29 | Adam Schenk | -1 | 70 |
| T29 | Webb Simpson | -1 | 69 |
| T29 | Patton Kizzire | -1 | 76 |
| T29 | Robert Garrigus | -1 | 77 |
| T41 | Peter Malnati | E | 74 |
| T41 | Jason Kokrak | E | 71 |
| T41 | Sam Saunders | E | 75 |
| T41 | Kevin Chappell | E | 75 |
| T41 | Austin Cook | E | 70 |
| T41 | Stephan Jaeger | E | 76 |
| T41 | Jesse Mueller | E | 70 |
| T48 | Nick Taylor | 1 | 74 |
| T48 | Harold Varner, III | 1 | 72 |
| T48 | Sam Burns | 1 | 72 |
| T48 | Ryan Armour | 1 | 72 |
| T48 | Bubba Watson | 1 | 71 |
| T48 | Alex Kang | 1 | 71 |
| T48 | Brett Stegmaier | 1 | 71 |
| T55 | Corey Conners | 2 | 74 |
| T55 | Richy Werenski | 2 | 73 |
| T55 | Luke Donald | 2 | 73 |
| T55 | David Lingmerth | 2 | 75 |
| T55 | Jim Knous | 2 | 73 |
| T55 | Rod Pampling | 2 | 72 |
| T55 | Camilo Villegas | 2 | 72 |
| T55 | Talor Gooch | 2 | 77 |
| T63 | Brian Davis | 3 | 75 |
| T63 | Ryan Hogue | 3 | 75 |
| T63 | Shawn Stefani | 3 | 74 |
| T63 | Jimmy Stanger | 3 | 74 |
| T63 | Michael Thompson | 3 | 77 |
| T63 | Ethan Tracy | 3 | 73 |
| T63 | Scott Brown | 3 | 73 |
| T63 | Derek Fathauer | 3 | 73 |
| T63 | James Hahn | 3 | 73 |
| T72 | Kevin Streelman | 4 | 75 |
| T72 | Daniel Summerhays | 4 | 75 |
| T72 | Russell Knox | 4 | 75 |
| T75 | Benjamin Silverman | 5 | 76 |
| T75 | Chad Campbell | 5 | 75 |
| T77 | Retief Goosen | 7 | 78 |
| T77 | Geoff Ogilvy | 7 | 77 |
| - | David Hearn | CUT | -- |
| - | J.B. Holmes | CUT | -- |
| - | Patrick Rodgers | CUT | -- |
| - | Keith Mitchell | CUT | -- |
| - | Tom Lovelady | CUT | -- |
| - | Martin Laird | CUT | -- |
| - | Harris English | CUT | -- |
| - | Hunter Mahan | CUT | -- |
| - | Joel Dahmen | CUT | -- |
| - | Sang-Moon Bae | CUT | -- |
| - | Andrew Putnam | CUT | -- |
| - | Vijay Singh | CUT | -- |
| - | Fabian Gomez | CUT | -- |
| - | Chris Kirk | CUT | -- |
| - | Jamie Lovemark | CUT | -- |
| - | Denny McCarthy | CUT | -- |
| - | Smylie Kaufman | CUT | -- |
| - | Abraham Ancer | CUT | -- |
| - | Andres Gonzales | CUT | -- |
| - | Ben Crane | CUT | -- |
| - | Kyle Thompson | CUT | -- |
| - | Matt Every | CUT | -- |
| - | Rob Oppenheim | CUT | -- |
| - | Tyler Duncan | CUT | -- |
| - | Jonathan Byrd | CUT | -- |
| - | Ben Martin | CUT | -- |
| - | Jon Curran | CUT | -- |
| - | Rory Sabbatini | CUT | -- |
| - | Matt Atkins | CUT | -- |
| - | Ted Potter Jr. | CUT | -- |
| - | Tyrone van Aswegen | CUT | -- |
| - | Robert Streb | CUT | -- |
| - | Jonas Blixt | CUT | -- |
| - | Billy Hurley III | CUT | -- |
| - | Brian Gay | CUT | -- |
| - | Martin Piller | CUT | -- |
| - | Ze-cheng Dou | CUT | -- |
| - | Jimmy Walker | CUT | -- |
| - | Greg Chalmers | CUT | -- |
| - | Vaughn Taylor | CUT | -- |
| - | Tom Whitney | CUT | -- |
| - | Nate Lashley | CUT | -- |
| - | Sam Ryder | CUT | -- |
| - | Scott Strohmeyer | CUT | -- |
| - | C.T. Pan | CUT | -- |
| - | Taylor Moore | CUT | -- |
| - | Brice Garnett | CUT | -- |
| - | Lanto Griffin | CUT | -- |
| - | Rick Lamb | CUT | -- |
| - | Colt Knost | CUT | -- |
| - | Xin-jun Zhang | CUT | -- |
| - | Maverick McNealy | CUT | -- |
| - | Zac Blair | CUT | -- |
| - | Morgan Hoffmann | CUT | -- |
| - | Matt Jones | CUT | -- |
| - | Andrew Landry | CUT | -- |
| - | Andrew Yun | CUT | -- |
| - | Ricky Barnes | CUT | -- |
| - | Cameron Tringale | CUT | -- |
| - | Steve Wheatcroft | CUT | -- |
| - | Michael Kim | CUT | -- |
| - | D.A. Points | CUT | -- |
| - | Nick Watney | CUT | -- |
| - | Billy Horschel | WD | -- |
| - | Jonathan Randolph | WD | -- |
| - | Nicholas Lindheim | WD | -- |
Credit: PGA Tour Media, Getty Images
