Russell Henley carded a one-under-par 69 to secure a three-stroke lead at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Henley has led three times after 54 holes this season, although he is four years removed from his last PGA Tour victory — the 2017 Shell Houston Open. A three-time PGA Tour winner, Henley also is attempting to become the first wire-to-wire winner of the event since Brandt Snedeker in 2018.
Henley highlighted his Saturday performance with a 33-foot putt for eagle on the par-five 15th hole at Sedgefield Country Club. He also had one birdie and two bogeys on Saturday after carding a 62 on Thursday and a 64 the following day.
“Yeah, I’m not always going to shoot 62 or 64. I feel thankful to be under par today,” Henley said. “I feel like mentally I was pretty tough considering how I was feeling. I was really doing a good job of committing to all my shots, but you’ve just got to hit fairways out here. And my bogey on 11 came from hitting the fairway, so just a little bit sloppy, but overall made some good decisions, made some really nice up-and-downs and I’m thankful for where I am.”
Henley’s 15-under for the tournament is three strokes better than Tyler McCumber, who had four birdies during his bogey-free round to finish with a 66. “Yeah, I’ve been playing great,” McCumber said. “Golf doesn’t always give you the results you want. You’ve got to stay in the process and I feel like I’ve been doing that pretty well and getting rewarded for it through the first three rounds this week, so taking that momentum into tomorrow.”
McCumber’s best finish was as a runner-up at the 2020 Corales Puntacana Championship.
Canadian Roger Sloan recorded his second straight 64 to find himself in a six-way tie for third place at 11-under for the tournament. “I think in the first round I dusted off a few of those jitters and then I was just able to settle in the last few holes on Thursday,” Sloan said. “Yeah, I really like this golf course, I like a lot of the sight lines off the tee. These greens are so good, you just put the ball online and it’s going to go in the hole. It’s a great track.”
South African Branden Grace (64), Kevin Kisner (66), Kevin Na (67), Scott Piercy (69) and Slovak Rory Sabbatini (69) also sit at 11-under.
Sabbatini, who won a silver medal at the just-completed Tokyo Olympics, is bidding for his first PGA Tour victory since the 2011 Honda Classic. Once as high as No. 8 in the world, the 45-year-old has six career PGA Tour victories.
Australian Adam Scott (64) and England’s Justin Rose (69) are part of six players tied at 10-under-par.
