Adam Schenk closed with a birdie on 18 to score 11 points Saturday and take a four-point lead into the final round of the USPGA Tour’s Barracuda Championship in Truckee, California.
Schenk increased his three day total to 38 points for a solid lead over South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen and fellow American Andrew Putnam, who were tied for second with 34 points in the event which uses the modified Stableford scoring system.
Players receive eight points for an albatross, five for eagle, two for birdie and none for par. A point is subtracted for a bogey, and three points are taken away for a double bogey or worse.
Schenk rolled in a five foot putt on 18 for his sixth and final birdie of the round at the Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood Course. Schenk had a bogey on 18 in the first round and then parred the hole on Friday.
The 29-year old from Indiana is seeking his first win on the PGA Tour.
Schenk had a chance to make a birdie on the par-three 17th. Hitting off the ground without a tee, his iron shot landed close to the flag but he two putted for par. His only blemish of the day was a bogey on the par-four 10th which resulted in a point deduction.
Van Rooyen scored 10 points Saturday, posting three straight birdies beginning at the par-three seventh. Like Schenk, the 31-year old from Cape Town is seeking his first PGA Tour win.
The 2017 runner-up at the Joburg Open has one victory on the European Tour, capturing the Scandinavian Invitational in 2019.
Scott Piercy and Joel Dahmen are tied for fourth with 33 points, while 36-hole leader Emiliano Grillo of Argentina is alone in sixth with 31 points after a frustrating round that netted him just two points.
© Agence France-Presse
