Justin Harding and Branden Grace rebounded from indifferent second rounds to advance up the weather-delayed AT&T Byron Nelson leaderboard on Saturday.
The start of the third round at Trinity Forest was delayed by six hours due to heavy rain overnight and well into the morning.
The slow day was not mirrored by the South Africans’ rise up the board.
Harding rose 28 places when play was halted in a quick turnaround to his first round effort of 66. Now -6 through 16, the Stellenbosch pro, who partnered Grace at the Zurich Classic, has a real chance of working his way through the pile as he attempts to play his way on to the world’s biggest and most lucrative tour.
Harding, starting on the back nine, opened with a birdie and was -3 when he arrived on the ninth tee box, thanks to adding 33 feet worth of putts on 7 and 8. The 488-yard par-4 ninth hole cost him a shot, but the two-time Asian Tour winner was not be deterred.
He immediately regained that stroke, and another with an eagle on the first after draining his 23 foot effort. Harding made light work of the fifth hole before needing to convert from just three foot on the par-5 seventh for another birdie.
Harding has just two holes to complete before heading out for his final round with plenty of encouragement after a superb day that saw his green-in-regulation numbers nearing 90%.
One shot back at -8 and sharing 35th place, Grace matched Harding’s form in approaching the greens on Saturday. The one-time PGA TOUR winner went out in -1 before rising up the board with an eagle from 25 feet on the first, and then back-to-back birdies at 5 and 6, both of which came from within five feet.
Grace has three holes left to complete his third round, including a par-5.
Dylan Frittelli was also bogey-free on Saturday, but will face a much earlier wake-up call with 7 holes still to complete. At -3 for the day, he moved up 10 places to T57.
A secondary cut, to the low 70 scores, will be made before the fourth round. There is no rain in the forecast, with sunny skies and temperatures getting to the high 70s for Mother’s Day.
Matt Every (-18) leads by one from overnight leader and course record holder Sung Kang with Brooks Koepka six back.
Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
