Illinois (USA), June 5 (IANS) Lucas Glover (63-63-69) and Lee Hodges (64-66-67) led the field at the end of the third day of the John Deere Classic held at TPC Deere Run.
Glover and Hodges have a score of 16-under par and their closest rivals are the trio of Ben Kohles (65-67-66), Jackson Suber (68-64-66) and Zac Blair (63-68-67) with a score of 15-under par. The top 10 heading into the final round includes 11 players of which the only non-America player is Ryo Hisatsune of Japan in T-8 with a score of 12-under par (67-65-69).
Indo-Canadian Sudarshan Yellamaraju had earlier missed the cut, while Akshay Bhatia, Sahith Theegala and Aaron Rai did not tee up this week.
Glover began the week by setting the low score of the week in his first side alongside Zac Blair as both players carded 8-under 63. Glover commented that it’s always a shootout here. Glover has held or shared the lead since Thursday.
The third round saw Glover make his first bogey of the week as he recorded a card of 2-under 69. Glover began his third round strong as he made his first eagle of the week on the second hole before dropping a shot on the ninth hole with a bogey. With the help of a late birdie on the 17th hole he was able to stay joint leader at the end of the third day.
Hodges began his third round two strokes behind Glover before carding 4-under 67 to gain a position on the leaderboard and become joint leader with only one round left in the week. Hodges began his third round with an early birdie on the second hole before picking up another stroke on the fifth hole. Bogeys in quick succession on the sixth and eighth holes saw the one time PGA title winner briefly move back to even par for the day before he made birdies on the 12th, 14th, 15th and 17th holes to close the day as joint leader.
Reigning NCAA champion and top ranked amateur Preston Stout is also within the top 10. Stout placed T-8 on the leaderboard with a score of 12-under par (66-69-66) and is in contention for the title. The Texan and rising senior from Oklahoma State fired off a round of 5-under 66 on the third day to gain 11 positions and put himself into the running. Stout made seven birdies and two birdies in his third round.
–IANS
hs/
