Safeway Open 2020: Brian Stuard, James Hahn, Cameron Percy Lead After Round 3

Brian Stuard, James Hahn and Cameron Percy co-lead a crowded Safeway Open leaderboard at 16-under, but a host of contenders are right behind them.

Kristoffer Ventura, Sam Burns and Harry Higgs are one shot back, and five other golfers reside in a seventh-place tie at 14-under.

Overall, 28 golfers are within four shots of the lead at Napa, California's Silverado Country Club, whose North course has been a birdie haven.

In other words, it's not inconceivable to believe that anyone within four shots could win this tournament, although those at the back of that pack have many golfers to leap frog before doing so.

Here's a look at the top-15 scoreboard from the PGA Tour's first tournament of the year as well as notes and highlights from Saturday.

Top-20 Leaderboard

T1. Brian Stuard: -16

T1. James Hahn: -16

T1. Cameron Percy: -16

T4. Kristoffer Ventura: -15

T4. Sam Burns: -15

T4. Harry Higgs: -15

T7. Emiliano Grillo: -14

T7. Stewart Cink: -14

T7. Doug Ghim: -14

T7. D.J. Trahan: -14

T7. Russell Knox: -14

T12. Sahith Theegala: -13

T12. Kevin Streelman: -13

T12. Ben Taylor: -13

T12. Xinjun Zhang: -13

T12. Tim Wilkinson: -13

T12. Pat Perez: -13

The Leaders

James Hahn's irons were on point Saturday as evidenced by this shot on a par-three:

He hit a ridiculous 88.89 percent of his greens in regulation and gained another half-stroke on the green as well en route to shooting a five-under 67 Saturday.

The driver wasn't as helpful as the irons, with Hahn hitting 64.29 percent of his fairways. It didn't matter, though, as Hahn was able to pull off shots like these:

Fellow co-leader Brian Stuard finished six-under after an excellent, bogey-free round that ended with a birdie on the last:

Consistency has been the name of the game for Stuard thanks to a 67-67-66 performance thus far. On Saturday, he had third straight birdies from the third through fifth holes before adding three more on the back nine.

Hahn and Stuard have company in the form of Cameron Percy, whose four-under day propelled him into a three-way tie.

Somehow, Percy has found himself there despite a 42.86 percent driving accuracy rate Saturday. Gaining over two strokes on the green helped, as did his ability to hit greens in regulations with solid iron play.

The Rookie

If you're looking for an underdog to root for Sunday, consider Sahith Theegala, who made his first start as a professional in the Travelers Championship in June.

He dominated Saturday to the tune of an eight-under 64 thanks to his scorching-hot irons (83.33 percent greens in regulation) and putter (3.535 strokes gained).

Four birdies on the front nine, four birdies on the back nine and no bogeys put him at 13-under and a tie for 12th heading into Sunday.

Theegala, 23, dominated the college ranks at Pepperdine. He's had a rough start on the PGA Tour with three missed cuts at the Travelers, 3M Open and Rocket Mortgage Classic, but the future is bright for the ex-Green Wave star, who has thrown himself into the mix.

Shots of the Day

Leave it to Phil Mickelson to (a) consider using driver out of the rough, (b) actually doing so and (c) successfully executing the shot.

That all happened after Mickelson found thick rough on the par-five fifth, and the five-time major winner can take it from here:

Mickelson eventually saved par when it looked as though bogey was a real possibility. He's out of contention at eight-under overall, but the entertainment factor never stops with Mickelson regardless of where he is on the leaderboard.

Elsewhere, hole No. 17 was the place to be Saturday as Xinjun Zhang nailed a hole-out eagle from 103 yards:

That shot placed Zhang squarely in contention, moving him to 13-under for the tournament and three shots behind the leaders.

Leaderboard and statistics via PGATour.com.