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Honda Classic 2019: Wyndham Clark Leads Vijay Singh by 1 Stroke After Round 3
March 2, 2019
Wyndham Clark heads into the final day of the 2019 Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with the lead after using moving day to his advantage.
Clark entered the day at four under through two rounds, and a 67 on Saturday puts him at seven under for the tournament. That gives him a one-shot lead over Vijay Singh, Keith Mitchell and Kyoung-Hoon Lee with 18 holes to play.
Below is a look at the standings through three rounds as well as a recap of Day 3.
2019 Honda Classic Leaderboard—Third Round
1. Wyndham Clark 67 (-7)
T2. Vijay Singh 65 (-6)
T2. Kyoung-Hoon Lee 68 (-6)
T2. Keith Mitchell 70 (-6)
5. Rickie Fowler 66 (-5)
T6. Michael Thompson 66 (-4)
T6. Jhonattan Vegas 69 (-4)
T6. Roberto Castro 69 (-4)
T6. Adam Schenk 68 (-4)
T6. Ryan Armour 70 (-4)
T6. Brooks Koepka 70 (-4)
*Full leaderboard available on PGATour.com
It wasn't a flawless day on the course for Clark, but he did just enough to put himself ahead of the pack with one round to play.
Riding the momentum from a 67 on Friday, Clark got off to an incredible start in the third round. The 25-year-old notched birdies on five of the first seven holes to move into the lead:
At that point, he was in total control at nine under. He would soon cool off, though.
Clark finished the front nine with his first bogey of the nine, and he would later bogey two out of three holes in the middle of the back nine. Not even he could get through the Bear Trap unscathed:
Fortunately for him, he was able to sneak a birdie in between those hiccups to help stay afloat. Even with a trio bogeys on the day, he heads into Sunday in prime position to record his first win on the tour.
Meanwhile, Singh put himself in contention with a fairly clean around. Four birdies on the front nine and a pair on the back helped him limit the impact of his bogey on nine, bringing him to within one shot of the lead.
A 65 in the third round also has the 56-year-old Singh on the brink of history. As Mike McAllister of PGATour.com notes, Sam Snead (52 years, 10 months and eight days) owns the record for the oldest winner in PGA Tour history. A total of seven golfers have won on tour after turning 50 years old, with 51-year-old Davis Love III (2015 Wyndham Championship) the most recent to accomplish the feat.
"I'm physically quite capable of doing it," Singh said, per McAllister. "Mentally, I'm going to go out there and see how my mind works. If I just don't let anything interfere, I think I can do it."
Singh has not recorded a victory on the PGA Tour since the 2008 Deutsche Bank Championship.
Sungjae Im found himself tied atop the leaderboard with Mitchell at six under at the midway point of the tournament, but a disastrous performance in the third round saw him heading in the wrong direction on moving day. He piled up five bogeys and one double bogey while failing to shoot below par even once in 18 holes.
Through 36 holes, he had recorded just one bogey and one double bogey, tallying nine birdies in the process.
A 77 represented a 13-stroke drop-off for Im from Friday. Not only that, but it dropped him from first all the way down to a tie for 51st at one over for the tournament and eight shots back of the lead.
Of note, Justin Thomas (World No. 4) is at one under for the tournament following a 67 on Saturday.