Henrik Stenson shot a 4-under 66 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead in the Wyndham Championship.
The 2013 FedExCup champion and The Open winner in 2016 was at 16-under 194 at Sedgefield with a round left in the PGA TOUR’s last regular-season event of the season.
Webb Simpson, Kevin Na and Ollie Schniederjans were tied for second. Na shot a 65, Schniederjans had a 66 and Simpson – a North Carolina native who won at Sedgefield in 2011 – had a 68.
Rory Sabbatini continued his push for an unlikely spot in the final 125 to make it to the Northern Trust Open next week as he shot 66 to move into a share of 11th. His FedExCup ranking moved from 148 to 139, but he will need more than a few favours on Sunday if he is to make it into the field next week.
One South African playing this week is guaranteed of that, as Tyrone Van Aswegen sits 110th in the projected standings. He is T23 alongside Retief Goosen – both shot 65 on moving day. Goosen is out of the playoffs as he sits in a projected 157.
Simpson had sole possession of the lead late in the round, before Stenson caught him during his birdie binge on the back nine.
The Swede pulled even with Simpson with birdies on four of five holes, a run he capped by sticking his second shot on the par-4 17th some 10 feet from the hole and converting that putt. He could have ended his round with another one, but pulled his 15-foot birdie putt wide right and settled for par.
Still, his 72-hole score is second-best in tournament play at Sedgefield, surpassed only by Carl Pettersson’s 191 in 2008.
Simpson birdied his first hole, then reeled off 11 consecutive pars before briefly taking sole possession of the lead with birdies on the 13th and 15th holes. He sank a 20-foot birdie putt on No 13, and two holes later he settled for birdie after missing a 35-foot eagle putt on No 15.
Simpson could have caught Stenson on the 18th, but he pulled a 15-foot birdie putt left.
Schniederjans – a 24-year-old, third-year pro from Georgia Tech – is chasing his first victory on tour and his fifth top-10 finish of the year.
Then came trouble on the next hole. His tee shot on the par-3 16th landed in a low greenside bunker, and he stuck his chip into the rough just above the sand on his way to a bogey that dropped him back a stroke.
Na – who hasn’t won on tour since 2011 – joined Stenson in making a big move on the back nine. He had birdies on No 14, 15 and 17, landing his second shot inside of 10 feet.
