By Canadian Press

Schnek, Hall tied for Colonial lead after three rounds

May 27, 2023 | 4:25 PM

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Adam Schenk closed out a 3-under 67 with a 16-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Saturday to match PGA Tour rookie Harry Hall for the lead at 10-under after three rounds at the Colonial. 

Hall, who had the solo lead after the first and second rounds, overcame consecutive double-bogeys on the front nine that had dropped him out of the lead. His final putt in his round of 72 was a 10-foot par at No. 18 after he chipped from the fringe out of an awkward stance that had his heels hanging over the lip of a bunker, after a birdie at the 17th. 

Harris English was a stroke back at 9-under 201 after his bogey on 18, when an eight-foot par chance curled just by the cup. That was two holes after he had sole possession of the lead with a 40-foot birdie on the par-3 16th.

The 31-year-old Schenk, without a win in his 170 previous PGA Tour events, was the runner-up at the Valspar Championship in mid-March. He since has missed four cuts and tied for 31st at the RBC Heritage. 

Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world and the Colonial runner-up last year, bogeyed three of his last five holes for a 72 after opening with consecutive 67s. He was among six players tied for 10th place at 4-under.

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Defending champion Sam Burns, who overcame a seven-stroke deficit in the final round last year and beat Scheffler on the first playoff hole, had his second consecutive 70. He is tied for 16th at 3-under, again seven strokes off the lead after three rounds.

It is the first time since 2014 that it is a shared lead going into the final round at Colonial. There was a four-way tie after 54 holes that year, though eventual winner Adam Scott wasn’t part of that quartet. 

Colonial hasn’t had a wire-to-wire winner since Ian Baker-Finch in 1989. The only player to win in back-to-back years was Ben Hogan, who did it twice — 1946 and 1947, the event’s first two years, and again in 1952-53.

English, playing in the final group with Hall, was in the lead after his long birdie at 16th, but was in the rough on his first two shots at 17 before a 7-foot par — when Hall got even with his 10-foot birdie. 

Emiliano Grillo, who started the day with an 20-foot eagle putt on the first hole and then a birdie at No. 2, shared the lead through the middle of the round. But those were his only under-par holes. He had a double-bogey and two bogeys over his last six holes in a round of 72 that left him at 6 under and tied for fourth place with Justin Suh (66).

Hall’s double-bogeys came at Nos. 6 and 7, after 14 birdies and only two bogeys in his 41 holes before that.

After his tee shot at the 401-yard sixth hole went into the right rough, Hall’s approach settled behind a temporary concession stand. After several minutes with a rules official, a couple of drops on a cart and a couple of more on a washed-out area of turf, his pitch through a small gap came up short in the rough of the mounded green.

That double-bogey took him to 10 under, at the same time Grillo missed a 6-foot par putt a hole ahead to drop to the same score — and a share of the lead, instead of having it outright.

Hall’s approach at the 420-yard seventh flew out of bounds to the right off the green. 

English made an 8-foot birdie at No. 7 to move a stroke ahead of Hall and one behind Grillo after starting the day three strokes off the lead.

When English made the turn with an 8-foot birdie at the 404-yard 10th hole, he matched Grillo for the lead at 10 under. 

Grillo’s tee shot at the 158-yard par-3 13th went into the water, and he ended up with a double-bogey to go to 8 under. 

At the same time, a hole back, Hall had a birdie and English a bogey after his approach that went through the green. That put both of them at 9 under, in a tie with Schenk for the lead. 

Before Hall’s 12-foot birdie at No. 12, he had a scrambling par on the 626-yard 11th hole. He was in the rough after each of his first two shots on the course’s longest hole, by 80 yards.

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., missed the cut after shooting rounds of 71 and 73 for 4-over.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press