The two golfers who looked destined to duel for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas after the second round -- Brooks Koepka and Rod Pampling -- shot a combined 1 under on Saturday and were caught by the rest of the field.
Lucas Glover dropped his second straight 65 to take the lead at 15 under while Koepka and Pampling could not get out of their own way and settled at 14 under after three rounds. Russell Henley (63 on Saturday) and Geoff Ogilvy (66 on Saturday) both reached 13 under overall and should also be in the mix come Sunday afternoon.
Lucas Glover owns the clubhouse lead after a 65.#QuickHitshttps://t.co/G4BNBihbwX
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 5, 2016
"We weren't real good all day," Pampling said of his pairing with Koepka. The two combined for six bogeys and a double bogey on an easy course.
"We struggled out there, and at least it was good to see Brooks make some birdies at the end. They were out there, it was just a few breaks here and there weren't quite what I had been getting. Hopefully it'll turn around tomorrow and we'll actually post a proper number again."
"For as bad as we played today, I was kind of happy to be one off the lead," added Koepka. "Just kind of struggled everywhere."
Koepka, who is the big dog of this tournament as the No. 22-ranked player in the world, actually spent his Saturday night on the range trying to fix a pull he was fighting all day.
And then there was one ...
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 6, 2016
Brooks Koepka. pic.twitter.com/gz8z9TDUH5
"Just going to fix this pull draw and make sure the speed of these putts are where they need to be," said Koepka who has shot 62-67-70 this week. "I don't know if it was just a little bit of being tentative, because the greens are getting very firm and a little crusty, and then I guess that's what it was. They looked a lot faster than they are."
The problem now is that the Koepka-Pampling duo is surrounded by golfers set on winning the fourth tournament of the 2016-17 PGA Tour season.
With 10 golfers within three strokes of Glover's lead on a course that last year yielded a 61 from Smylie Kaufman en route to victory, I'm prepared for pretty much anything in the fourth round on Sunday. These aren't no-names either.
Trailing Henley and Ogilvy in the top 11 is Charles Howell III, Harris English and Scott Piercy. Glover knows his lead will be tested as he looks for his first win since 2011.
"We've got a shootout ahead of us tomorrow," said Glover. "I like where I stand, but you're going to have to play good tomorrow."
That's why Sunday is going to be great. The TPC Summerlin course has yielded two 62s, two 61s and a 60 so far this week. Glover moved up seven slots on the leaderboard on Saturday. There will be loads of fireworks on Sunday at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. With a bunched-up leaderboard, that's fantastic news.