Billy Hurley III continued his march toward his first PGA Tour win on Saturday, shooting a 3-under 67 to take a two-shot lead over Angel Cabrera into the final round of The Greenbrier Classic. Here’s how things look after three rounds in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.:
Leaderboard: Billy Hurley III (-12), Angel Cabrera (-10), Kevin Chappell (-9), Michael Thompson (-8), Cameron Tringale (-8), Will Wilcox (-8), Joe Durant (-6), Camilo Villegas (-8), Steve Stricker (-8), Chris Stroud (-8).
What it means: Former U.S. Navy lieutenant Hurley has not won on the PGA Tour, but he was fifth at the Honda Classic earlier this year and tied for eighth last week at Congressional.
Round of the day: Cabrera, Thompson and Tringale all shot matching 6-under 64s. Cabrera hit 12 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens in a seven-birdie, one-bogey round. Thompson bogeyed his first hole, but didn’t drop another shot, birdieing three holes on the front nine, eagling the par-5 12th and birdieing Nos. 13 and 18. Tringale did most of his damage on the front, making five birdies against one bogey to turn in 30, then adding two birdies on the back.
Best of the rest: Will Wilcox, Bill Haas and Hudson Swafford all shot 65 on a day that yielded plenty of low scores.
Biggest disappointment: Chris Kirk was just three shots off the lead after 36 holes, but a third-round 75 sent him plummeting out of contention. Ditto for Pat Perez, who matched Kirk’s 75 after being just four shots back on Friday.
Shot of the day: The Greenbrier’s The Old White TPC is unusual in that it ends with a par-3 hole. Oliver Goss nearly put a huge exclamation point on his round of 68, leaving his tee shot on the 175-yard hole hanging on the lip for a tap-in birdie.
Main storyline heading into Sunday: Hurley, the ex-Naval officer, has been the story from the start of this Fourth of July weekend. He’s never held a 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour, and his previous best finish was a T-4 in the 2012 Quicken Loans. Argentina’s Cabrera has won a Masters and a U.S. Open, but has yet to win a regular PGA Tour event.
Quote of the day: “Played nicely today and look forward to doing it again tomorrow.” - Hurley
