Jake Knapp had a strange round Saturday in the Cognizant Classic, but he was back in first place when it concluded.
Knapp birdied the final hole to card a 3-under-par 68, and the American held a one-shot lead following the third round at PGA National Resort’s Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
“A little bit all over the place,” Knapp said about his two-bogey, five-birdie performance. “I feel like I played pretty solid. I kind of misjudged a few things and definitely made a few bad swings.”
Knapp, who opened the tournament with a 59, is at 16 under for the tournament.
Aiming for his second PGA Tour victory, Knapp has a one-stroke advantage over Michael Kim, who also birdied the final hole for 67.
“There’s plenty of great players out here who can go stupid low, so just have to try to stick to my game plan,” Knapp said.
Kim rolled in a birdie putt of slightly more than 3 feet to close the round, temporarily pulling even with Knapp.
“I scrapped it around and kind of got it figured out towards the back nine,” Kim said. “I have a good chance heading into tomorrow, which is all I can ask for.”
Knapp had a birdie and two bogeys across the first seven holes. He played the backside at 4 under, capped by a short final putt.
“If I feel good with my game, I’ve always felt like I was fairly comfortable even in contention,” Kim said. “I’m sure I’ll be nervous tomorrow, but as long as I feel like my game is there, then I’ll know I have a chance.”
Course conditions have toughened over the last couple of days.
“It’s just a lot less pin hunting,” Knapp said. “It’s a little bit more conservative targets and you have to be a little bit more dialed in with distance control and shot shape.”
Russell Henley and Ben Griffin shot matching 66s. Doug Ghim notched 68, putting the trio in a three-way tie for third place at 14 under.
Rickie Fowler (68) and Taylor Montgomery (68) share sixth place at 13 under.
Montgomery held a one-shot lead when he finished the 14th hole. His tee shot on No. 15 ended up in the water and he was three strokes off the lead after walking away with a quadruple-bogey 7.
“You let your mind up in this game for one second, and it can bite you,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery had six birdies on the front side, including four straight (Nos. 6-9). After the mishap, he birdied two of the last three holes.
“My game has always been a roller coaster, so it’s nothing new to me,” he said. “I’ve done some of the best things that I’ve seen and some of the worst. It’s just how I play golf.”
Fowler hasn’t given up hope that he can make a charge.
“I’ve played well a lot of times around here, and having won here, I know what I need to do,” Fowler said. “I’ve had a lot of good stuff the first two days, and good way to fight through it (Saturday).”
The leaderboard is a rarity with only two non-U.S. golfers among the top 13. Austria’s Sepp Straka (67) and France’s Matthieu Pavon are in a six-way tie for eighth place.
–Field Level Media
