Jhonattan Vegas signed for a bogey free 63, including birdies on six of his final eight holes, to reach 16-under and take a one-shot lead into the final day at the 3M Open. His 197 total matches his career-low 54-hole score on the PGA Tour at the 2016 ISCO Championship.
"I've been getting lucky on the back nine and hitting some good shots and making some great putts," said Vegas. "Obviously it's a tough nine, you have to really hit really quality shots. You have to hit your irons really well on the back nine here, which I've been able to do for the past three days.
"You know, it's not easy, for sure. Obviously we're looking to kind of play the back nine really good this week so hopefully we can do it for another day.
"This course and this wind is pretty hard right now, it's blowing hard, low humidity the ball's flying a long way. It's really hard so you've just got to try to compute all of that into every shot and just hope for the best. I know there's a little bit of rain in the forecast for tomorrow, so we'll see what tomorrow brings and we'll have to deal with that tomorrow."
The Venezuelan player was limited to seven starts during the 2022-23 season due to a right elbow injury and is competing in 2024 on a Major Medical Extension.
A win on Sunday would be Vegas' fourth overall, 6 years and 363 days since winning the RBC Canadian Open back-to-back in 2016 and 2017 (first win: 2011 American Express). He would be exempt on Tour through the 2026 season and earn spots in The Sentry, Masters Tournament and PGA Championship in 2025.
American Matt Kuchar's own 63 featured a double bogey at the par-3 4th and an eagle at the par-5 18th and places him in second place at 15-under.
"So I had a kind of an in-between number on the approach shot [at the 18th] and went with a hybrid as opposed to a 3-wood and needed to hit it well. Pulled it. It was the safe side, but also I think a very difficult shot to get just up and down. I knew where it was with the hole location kind of up over on the backside of a hill that downwind, trying to hit one high and soft with spin on it is a challenge.
"I was looking just to give myself a birdie look and try to hit a good shot. It was a risky shot trying to pull off kind of a high spinner from where I was, but it came out perfectly. When I hit it I knew it was going to be good, knew it was going to be at least close to the hole, and for it to go in was a very cool finish. It was awfully exciting to have that many people get so
excited when the ball disappeared."
Should Kuchar win it would be his 10th career PGA Tour title and his first since winning twice during the 2018-19 season (World Wide Technology Championship, Sony Open in Hawaii). He would also become the 118th player to reach 10 wins on the Tour and move into a tie for 108th on the all-time wins list and be exempt through the 2026 season and earn spots in The Sentry, Masters Tournament and PGA Championship in 2025.
Fellow Americans Patrick Fishburn and Sahith Theegala are tied in fourth place at 12-under after Fishburn made an eagle at the par-5 6th and one bogey for a 63 while Theegala made a single bogey for a 66.
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