Shane Lowry (67), Chris Kirk (71), Sepp Straka (69) and first-round leader Kurt Kitayama (71) are all tied for second at 6 under; only 13 of the 73 players who made the cut, shot below par Saturday
Last Updated: 26/02/22 11:50pm
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Daniel Berger remains well-placed going into the final round – take a look back at the best of the action
Daniel Berger remains the leader of the Honda Classic after starting Saturday with a three-shot lead and finishing with a five-shot advantage
He’s now 18 holes away from winning a tournament that’s a 15-minute drive from his home.
Shane Lowry (67), Chris Kirk (71), Sepp Straka (69) and first-round leader Kurt Kitayama (71) are all tied for second at 6 under.
Only 13 of the 73 players who made the cut shot below par Saturday. Lowry had the day’s best round at just 3 under.
“Obviously, you want to go out and catch him [Daniel Berger] tomorrow, but I don’t think you can go and catch anyone on this golf course,” Lowry said.
“You just need to do your thing and shoot the best score you can and hopefully it will be somewhere near good enough.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Shane Lowry hits a third round 67 at the Honda Classic to stay well in contention heading in to the final round
Andrew Kozan, Curtis Thompson, Billy Horschel and Kevin Streelman all shot 68s on Saturday, though in all four cases, that simply meant just getting to even par for the week, nowhere near Berger.
“It played a lot tougher today,” Kitayama said.
There were hints that Berger might come back to the pack – he pulled the ball into the left rough on his first tee shot of the day. The left rough awaited him on the fourth hole as well, as did a greenside bunker on the seventh.
He saved par each time, and again on the tenth, when he two-putted from 65 feet to keep the card flawless. The only mistake from Berger on the last, and it produced him his lone bogey of the day.
Kirk was the closest for a while, just three shots back as he headed to the Par 4 on the 14th hole. However, a trip into the trees led to a double-bogey, and Berger backed off his putt before coolly rolling in a 5-footer to save par yet again.
With a five-shot lead, Berger went for it at the Par 3 at the 15th, the start of the three-hole stretch known as the Bear Trap which typically frowns on aggression. He went at the flag, kept the ball below the wind and watched it settle seven feet from the hole.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
PGA Tour debutant Martin Contini joins the fans in the stands after a wayward shot in Round 3 of the Honda Classic
Kozan was perhaps the day’s biggest success story. He waited 12 hours to play four shots, then played 68 more shots in the next three hours or so.
Kozan paused on the 18th fairway on Friday night because of darkness and then after five hours of sleep, was at the course by 5.40am on Saturday to warm up and resume play just before 7am.
He used a couple short irons to get to the green from about 260 yards out, then two-putted for the par that allowed him to make his first PGA Tour cut.
Kozan then teed off in a solo group to begin the third round and just before 11am, and ended by rolling in a 4-footer for birdie to finish a third round of 2-under (68).
Watch the Honda Classic throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues from 11.45am on Sunday on Sky Sports Golf.
Get the best prices and book a round at one of 1,700 courses across the UK & Ireland