Ireland’s Shane Lowry figured it would be important to be within range of the leaders after the third round of the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches.
Better yet for Lowry, he shot 8-under-par 63 to surge into the solo lead for a period of time Saturday and ended the day as co-leader with Austin Smotherman at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Smotherman, the second-round leader, had an eagle putt from inside 16 feet on the final hole but settled for birdie to end up with 69.
Lowery and Smotherman take 13-under 200 scores into Sunday’s final round at PGA National’s Champion Course.
“You want to be near the leaders, keep an eye on them and see what they’re doing,” Lowry said. “If the conditions are like this (Sunday), there is low scores out there, so someone could come from the pack.”
Taylor Moore (67) and Colombia’s Nico Echavarria (66) are one stroke back.
Lowry was 6 under through 10 holes and then tacked on birdies on the last two holes.
“I holed a few nice putts at the start,” Lowry said. “Then I started hitting the ball really well and giving myself lots of chances and converted a few and I felt like it was just a really nice solid round of golf. Birdieing the last two was kind of the icing on the cake.”
Lowry said he took advantage of calm conditions that didn’t include much wind.
Smotherman, 31, is bidding for his first PGA Tour victory. He missed the cut in three of his four previous tournaments this year.
Now he’ll be in a final pairing with Lowry.
“That’s probably the thing right there that I need to probably step back and realize is that it’s not me versus him or anything like that,” Smotherman said.
Echavarria’s bogey-free round put him in position to contend for his third title on the PGA Tour.
“I knew that a course like this fits me well,” Echavarria said.
Moore might count on consistency for another day as he has posted 67s in each round.
“I’m looking forward to 18 more holes, one more day,” Moore said. “Just keep my head down and keep going.”
Jimmy Stanger (65) is at 11 under, while Ricky Castillo (64) and Canada’s A.J. Ewart (68) sit at 10 under. Joel Dahmen (68) is four shots off the lead.
Stanger turned in a rather tame round with a bogey on No. 2 and then seven birdies the rest of the way after Friday’s adventure that included two eagles and two double-bogeys. Stanger, who didn’t enter any PGA Tour events in 2025 following elbow surgery, made a tournament cut for the first time since 2024.
“I’m also just so thankful to be out here again after as much time sitting at home just wondering if I’ll even be able to play again,” Stanger said. “It’s really good to be back out here and playing some good golf.”
Castillo, also seeking his first PGA Tour victory, said he has sensed support during the tournament because he played collegiately for Florida. It’s going to take more than an appreciative gallery for him to hold the trophy by the end of Sunday’s play.
“This is a very tricky golf course, and you just have to definitely have a lot of control over your golf ball and really just stay patient because if you just try and get a little greedy out here, it can bite you really bad,” Castillo said.
Defending champion Joe Highsmith shot 76 and sits in 67th place at 5 over.
Tee times for the third round moved up several hours because of weather-related concerns later in the afternoon. The first and 10th tees were used as starting points.
–Field Level Media
