With most of the world's top-ranked players at the WGC Match Play, Brice Garnett and Ben Martin lead the way after Thursday's opening round of the Corales Puntacana Championship.
Played in the Dominican Republic at the picturesque Puntacana Resort's Corales Golf Course, Martin and Garnett both shot bogey-free 66s to sit atop the leaderboard at six under.
While neither player has won a PGA Tour event since at least 2018, they both have a strong history at this event. Garnett's sole win on the tour came here in 2018, while Martin – whose only win came in 2014 – finished runner-up in Punta Cana last season.
Alone in third place is England's Matt Wallace at five under, and he is the only non-American in the top nine as Max McGreevy and Dylan Wu highlight the logjam at four under.
France's Martin Trainer and South Africa's Erik van Rooyen are part of the group tied for 10th at three under, with Belgium's Thomas Detry one further back at two under.
South American talents Emiliano Grillo of Argentina and Colombia's Camillo Villegas are at one under, while the Dominican Republic's own Juan Jose Guerra has a chance to make his first cut on the PGA Tour, sitting tied for 58th at one over.
Harry Hall bounces back from double blow to keep share of lead
Harry Hall survived back-to-back double bogeys to head into the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge tied for the lead in pursuit of his first PGA Tour victory.
The 25-year-old Cornish rookie heads into the final round alongside American Adam Schenk with Harris English a shot further back.
With the scoring average at Colonial Country Club rising to more than one over par in the third round as the greens toughened up, Hall opened with a three-stroke lead and five straight pars before he hit trouble – an errant approach at the sixth and an iron into a muddy creek at the seventh leading to a pair of sixes.
Two birdies on the way home gave him a round of 72 and a place in the final pairing with Schenk – also chasing his first win after six years on tour – who shot a bogey-free 67 to tie at 10 under par.
“I’m never going to stop fighting,” Hall said. “I’m always going to keep trying.
“This game brings you new challenges every day and I’m equipped to deal with them. I think I showed that today, I kept a lot of patience and I kept to my game plan.”
“I’m ready. Just get on the green and make some putts.”
English was on course for a share of the lead before bogeying the last to lie a shot behind.
American Justin Suh and Emiliano Grillo of Argentina are three strokes further back with Viktor Hovland among a group on five under par.
England’s Aaron Rai shot a third round 67 to be tied for 10th in a group on four under par which includes world number one Scottie Scheffler after his 72, a score matched by Justin Rose who is a shot further back.
Harry Hall opens three-stroke halfway lead at Charles Schwab Challenge
Cornish rookie Harry Hall fired four consecutive birdies around the turn as he took a three-shot halfway lead in the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Hall followed his opening round 62 with a 66 as he moved to 12 under par, three clear of American Harris English who lit up his round of 66 with a hole in one at the eighth hole at the Colonial Country Club at Fort Worth, Texas.
Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo is a shot further back after a best of the day round of 65.
Former Walker Cup star Hall is chasing his first PGA Tour win after chalking up two top 10 finishes in his rookie season to date.
Starting at the 10th, he bogeyed the 13th before getting that shot back two holes later and grabbing four straight birdies around the turn to strengthen his position at the top of the leaderboard.
That run was ended with a bogey at the third, but he birded the seventh and holed his second attempt to escape a greenside bunker at the eighth after plugging into the side.
English fared much better at the 170-yard eighth where he produced the first ace at the hole since Jim Furyk in 2011.
Adam Schenk, Byeong Hun An and Robby Shelton were tied for fourth, a stroke behind Grillo and one ahead of Andrew Novak and world number one Scottie Scheffler, who lost in a play-off 12 months ago and had his second consecutive round of 67.
Justin Rose, who won at Colonial five years ago, was tied for ninth at 5 under after a bogey-free 66.
Michael Block, the 46-year-old club pro from California who earned an invitation after tying for 15th at the US PGA Championship, finished last in the 120-strong field at 15 over par but improved on his opening round of 81 by seven strokes.
England’s Harry Hall takes three-shot lead in Texas with career-best outing
A career-best round of 62 propelled England’s Harry Hall to the top of the leaderboard after the opening day of the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club.
Hall took only 22 putts to card a score of eight under and a decisive three-shot lead in Fort Worth, Texas.
He picked up eight birdies without dropping a shot and managed to save par from 15 and 30 feet.
Harris English is Hall’s closest competitor on five under, after the American split a bogey with six birdies, including two on his final two holes.
Tom Hoge, Adam Schenk, Robby Shelton and Andrew Putnam are all tied for third on four under par.
Elsewhere, it was a mixed day for Scotland’s Russel Knox and English duo Callum Tarren and Justin Rose, who all head into Friday’s second round on one under.
Club professional Michael Block, who dazzled the golfing world with his heroics at the US PGA Championship heroics, had a rough outing as he finished his opening round 11 over par.
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