Nick Dunlap will take a three-shot lead into the final round of The American Express tournament as he chases the first win by an amateur on the PGA Tour for 33 years.
The University of Alabama student shot 10 birdies and an eagle in a third round 60 – equalling the lowest round by an amateur in a tour event – on the La Quinta course to follow his second round 61 as he moved into pole position on 27-under-par.
Phil Mickelson was the last amateur to win on the PGA Tour in 1991.
Overnight leader Sam Burns is three shots back after a 65 at the Stadium Course, one of three used for the tournament and the site of the final round, where Justin Thomas equalled the course record with a 61 to sit a further stroke back.
South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout is the only other player within six shots of the lead.
Playing as a sponsor’s invite, Dunlap is the first amateur to make the cut at the event and while he will not collect the 1.5million dollars (£1.18million) prize money, a win would secure his PGA Tour card for two years.
Related: Rory McIlroy surges into contention with third-round 63 at Dubai Desert Classic
The Northern Irishman is looking to eclipse Ernie Els’ record in the desert.
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Dunlap(a) (LQ) | -27 | 64 | 65 | 60 | 189 |
| 2 | Sam Burns(SC) | -24 | 66 | 61 | 65 | 192 |
| 3 | Justin Thomas(SC) | -23 | 65 | 67 | 61 | 193 |
| 4 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout(SC) | -21 | 63 | 67 | 65 | 195 |
| T5 | Eric Cole(NT) | -20 | 66 | 64 | 66 | 196 |
| T5 | Si Woo Kim(SC) | -20 | 64 | 66 | 66 | 196 |
| T5 | Adam Hadwin(LQ) | -20 | 65 | 65 | 66 | 196 |
| T5 | J.T. Poston(NT) | -20 | 67 | 65 | 64 | 196 |
| T5 | Xander Schauffele(SC) | -20 | 64 | 69 | 63 | 196 |
| T10 | Jimmy Stanger(LQ) | -19 | 65 | 66 | 66 | 197 |
| T10 | Patrick Cantlay(SC) | -19 | 64 | 66 | 67 | 197 |
| T12 | Michael Kim(SC) | -18 | 65 | 63 | 70 | 198 |
| T12 | Kevin Yu(LQ) | -18 | 66 | 66 | 66 | 198 |
| T12 | Alexander Björk(SC) | -18 | 64 | 67 | 67 | 198 |
| T12 | Sungjae Im(LQ) | -18 | 66 | 67 | 65 | 198 |
| T12 | Ben Griffin(SC) | -18 | 66 | 68 | 64 | 198 |
| T17 | Zach Johnson(SC) | -17 | 62 | 69 | 68 | 199 |
| T17 | Ben Martin(NT) | -17 | 68 | 64 | 67 | 199 |
| T17 | Chris Kirk(SC) | -17 | 68 | 64 | 67 | 199 |
| T17 | Chan Kim(LQ) | -17 | 64 | 67 | 68 | 199 |
| T17 | Alex Noren(SC) | -17 | 62 | 68 | 69 | 199 |
| T17 | Bronson Burgoon(NT) | -17 | 66 | 69 | 64 | 199 |
| T23 | Justin Lower(LQ) | -16 | 64 | 68 | 68 | 200 |
| T23 | Harrison Endycott(NT) | -16 | 70 | 68 | 62 | 200 |
| T23 | Davis Thompson(SC) | -16 | 67 | 67 | 66 | 200 |
| T23 | Ryo Hisatsune(SC) | -16 | 65 | 67 | 68 | 200 |
| T23 | Joe Highsmith(LQ) | -16 | 66 | 69 | 65 | 200 |
| T28 | Stephan Jaeger(LQ) | -15 | 69 | 65 | 67 | 201 |
| T28 | Tyler Duncan(NT) | -15 | 67 | 69 | 65 | 201 |
| T28 | Vince Whaley(SC) | -15 | 67 | 68 | 66 | 201 |
| T28 | Will Gordon(SC) | -15 | 67 | 69 | 65 | 201 |
| T28 | Max Greyserman(LQ) | -15 | 67 | 68 | 66 | 201 |
| T28 | Zac Blair(LQ) | -15 | 67 | 67 | 67 | 201 |
| T28 | Alex Smalley(LQ) | -15 | 66 | 69 | 66 | 201 |
| T28 | Min Woo Lee(LQ) | -15 | 65 | 66 | 70 | 201 |
| T28 | Erik Barnes(SC) | -15 | 68 | 65 | 68 | 201 |
| T28 | Matthieu Pavon(LQ) | -15 | 67 | 66 | 68 | 201 |
| T28 | Paul Barjon(LQ) | -15 | 70 | 64 | 67 | 201 |
| T39 | Greyson Sigg(SC) | -14 | 70 | 69 | 63 | 202 |
| T39 | Keith Mitchell(LQ) | -14 | 69 | 67 | 66 | 202 |
| T39 | Wyndham Clark(SC) | -14 | 70 | 64 | 68 | 202 |
| T39 | Tom Hoge(SC) | -14 | 69 | 68 | 65 | 202 |
| T39 | Camilo Villegas(NT) | -14 | 69 | 68 | 65 | 202 |
| T39 | Carson Young(NT) | -14 | 70 | 64 | 68 | 202 |
| T39 | Nico Echavarria(SC) | -14 | 67 | 70 | 65 | 202 |
| T39 | Will Zalatoris(NT) | -14 | 68 | 69 | 65 | 202 |
| T39 | Erik van Rooyen(SC) | -14 | 66 | 67 | 69 | 202 |
| T39 | Mark Hubbard(NT) | -14 | 70 | 66 | 66 | 202 |
| T39 | Taylor Montgomery(LQ) | -14 | 68 | 69 | 65 | 202 |
| T39 | Tony Finau(SC) | -14 | 68 | 67 | 67 | 202 |
| T39 | Jason Day(SC) | -14 | 68 | 66 | 68 | 202 |
| T39 | Yuxin Lin(NT) | -14 | 70 | 64 | 68 | 202 |
| T39 | Chesson Hadley(SC) | -14 | 65 | 66 | 71 | 202 |
| T39 | Sam Ryder(NT) | -14 | 69 | 66 | 67 | 202 |
| T39 | Scottie Scheffler(SC) | -14 | 67 | 66 | 69 | 202 |
| T39 | Chez Reavie(NT) | -14 | 66 | 70 | 66 | 202 |
| T57 | Matt NeSmith(LQ) | -13 | 67 | 66 | 70 | 203 |
| T57 | Beau Hossler(NT) | -13 | 69 | 70 | 64 | 203 |
| T57 | Daniel Berger(NT) | -13 | 68 | 68 | 67 | 203 |
| T57 | K.H. Lee(SC) | -13 | 65 | 64 | 74 | 203 |
| T57 | Jacob Bridgeman(SC) | -13 | 67 | 69 | 67 | 203 |
| T57 | Chandler Phillips(NT) | -13 | 70 | 70 | 63 | 203 |
| T57 | Sam Stevens(NT) | -13 | 70 | 65 | 68 | 203 |
| T57 | Austin Eckroat(LQ) | -13 | 69 | 65 | 69 | 203 |
| T57 | Lanto Griffin(NT) | -13 | 73 | 65 | 65 | 203 |
| T57 | Andrew Putnam(LQ) | -13 | 66 | 68 | 69 | 203 |
| T57 | Ben Kohles(SC) | -13 | 66 | 66 | 71 | 203 |
| CUT | Justin Suh | -12 | 71 | 67 | 66 | 204 |
| CUT | Akshay Bhatia | -12 | 70 | 67 | 67 | 204 |
| CUT | Jhonattan Vegas | -12 | 68 | 70 | 66 | 204 |
| CUT | Norman Xiong | -12 | 73 | 66 | 65 | 204 |
| CUT | Kevin Streelman | -12 | 67 | 67 | 70 | 204 |
| CUT | Shane Lowry | -12 | 67 | 67 | 70 | 204 |
| CUT | Matt Wallace | -12 | 67 | 72 | 65 | 204 |
| CUT | Troy Merritt | -12 | 70 | 64 | 70 | 204 |
| CUT | David Skinns | -12 | 69 | 67 | 68 | 204 |
| CUT | Nicholas Lindheim | -12 | 73 | 66 | 65 | 204 |
| CUT | Aaron Baddeley | -11 | 74 | 66 | 65 | 205 |
| CUT | Robby Shelton | -11 | 68 | 74 | 63 | 205 |
| CUT | Adam Schenk | -11 | 70 | 67 | 68 | 205 |
| CUT | Billy Horschel | -11 | 72 | 68 | 65 | 205 |
| CUT | Brandon Wu | -11 | 69 | 68 | 68 | 205 |
| CUT | Nate Lashley | -11 | 72 | 67 | 66 | 205 |
| CUT | Matt Kuchar | -11 | 73 | 67 | 65 | 205 |
| CUT | Nick Taylor | -11 | 68 | 67 | 70 | 205 |
| CUT | Tom Kim | -11 | 69 | 71 | 65 | 205 |
| CUT | Kevin Dougherty | -11 | 66 | 71 | 68 | 205 |
| CUT | Scott Stallings | -11 | 64 | 68 | 73 | 205 |
| CUT | Lee Hodges | -11 | 71 | 67 | 67 | 205 |
| CUT | Adrien Dumont de Chassart | -11 | 68 | 71 | 66 | 205 |
| CUT | Ben Silverman | -11 | 68 | 67 | 70 | 205 |
| CUT | Hayden Springer | -11 | 64 | 70 | 71 | 205 |
| CUT | Blaine Hale, Jr. | -11 | 71 | 70 | 64 | 205 |
| CUT | Rico Hoey | -11 | 63 | 70 | 72 | 205 |
| CUT | Parker Coody | -11 | 68 | 68 | 69 | 205 |
| CUT | Doug Ghim | -10 | 68 | 69 | 69 | 206 |
| CUT | Aaron Rai | -10 | 69 | 71 | 66 | 206 |
| CUT | Ryan Palmer | -10 | 68 | 69 | 69 | 206 |
| CUT | Patrick Fishburn | -10 | 69 | 72 | 65 | 206 |
| CUT | Cam Davis | -10 | 68 | 65 | 73 | 206 |
| CUT | Ryan McCormick | -10 | 74 | 68 | 64 | 206 |
| CUT | Taiga Semikawa | -9 | 68 | 71 | 68 | 207 |
| CUT | Hayden Buckley | -9 | 72 | 66 | 69 | 207 |
| CUT | Callum Tarren | -9 | 71 | 70 | 66 | 207 |
| CUT | Davis Riley | -9 | 72 | 70 | 65 | 207 |
| CUT | Matti Schmid | -9 | 69 | 67 | 71 | 207 |
| CUT | Martin Laird | -9 | 69 | 70 | 68 | 207 |
| CUT | Thomas Detry | -8 | 70 | 66 | 72 | 208 |
| CUT | Garrick Higgo | -8 | 69 | 69 | 70 | 208 |
| CUT | Mac Meissner | -8 | 65 | 68 | 75 | 208 |
| CUT | Harry Hall | -8 | 75 | 68 | 65 | 208 |
| CUT | Chad Ramey | -8 | 72 | 65 | 71 | 208 |
| CUT | Alejandro Tosti | -8 | 66 | 72 | 70 | 208 |
| CUT | Peter Malnati | -8 | 71 | 66 | 71 | 208 |
| CUT | S.H. Kim | -8 | 68 | 71 | 69 | 208 |
| CUT | James Hahn | -8 | 69 | 71 | 68 | 208 |
| CUT | Joel Dahmen | -7 | 68 | 69 | 72 | 209 |
| CUT | Tom Whitney | -7 | 66 | 70 | 73 | 209 |
| CUT | Trace Crowe | -7 | 70 | 72 | 67 | 209 |
| CUT | Josh Teater | -7 | 68 | 70 | 71 | 209 |
| CUT | Jason Dufner | -7 | 69 | 73 | 67 | 209 |
| CUT | Maverick McNealy | -6 | 73 | 66 | 71 | 210 |
| CUT | Brandt Snedeker | -6 | 75 | 65 | 70 | 210 |
| CUT | Michael Block | -6 | 72 | 71 | 67 | 210 |
| CUT | Carl Yuan | -6 | 68 | 71 | 71 | 210 |
| CUT | John Pak | -6 | 69 | 68 | 73 | 210 |
| CUT | David Lingmerth | -5 | 70 | 72 | 69 | 211 |
| CUT | Robert MacIntyre | -5 | 71 | 69 | 71 | 211 |
| CUT | Chris Gotterup | -5 | 77 | 68 | 66 | 211 |
| CUT | Grayson Murray | -5 | 70 | 69 | 72 | 211 |
| CUT | Scott Gutschewski | -5 | 71 | 69 | 71 | 211 |
| CUT | Cameron Champ | -5 | 74 | 72 | 65 | 211 |
| CUT | Dylan Wu | -4 | 69 | 70 | 73 | 212 |
| CUT | Joseph Bramlett | -4 | 69 | 73 | 70 | 212 |
| CUT | Taylor Pendrith | -4 | 71 | 72 | 69 | 212 |
| CUT | David Lipsky | -4 | 70 | 70 | 72 | 212 |
| CUT | Charley Hoffman | -4 | 69 | 66 | 77 | 212 |
| CUT | Bill Haas | -4 | 68 | 73 | 71 | 212 |
| CUT | Sami Valimaki | -4 | 74 | 69 | 69 | 212 |
| CUT | Patton Kizzire | -3 | 71 | 74 | 68 | 213 |
| CUT | J.B. Holmes | -3 | 73 | 69 | 71 | 213 |
| CUT | Roger Sloan | -3 | 76 | 68 | 69 | 213 |
| CUT | Adam Long | -3 | 70 | 72 | 71 | 213 |
| CUT | Pierceson Coody | -3 | 71 | 75 | 67 | 213 |
| CUT | Ben Taylor | -2 | 70 | 71 | 73 | 214 |
| CUT | Rickie Fowler | -2 | 70 | 68 | 76 | 214 |
| CUT | Raul Pereda | -1 | 72 | 73 | 70 | 215 |
| CUT | Andrew Novak | Par | 72 | 72 | 72 | 216 |
| CUT | Andrew Landry | Par | 71 | 73 | 72 | 216 |
| CUT | Kevin Kisner | +1 | 74 | 75 | 68 | 217 |
| CUT | Jake Knapp | +2 | 71 | 73 | 74 | 218 |
| CUT | Ryan Moore | +4 | 70 | 76 | 74 | 220 |
| CUT | Ryan Brehm | +8 | 76 | 68 | 80 | 224 |
| CUT | Tyson Alexander | +8 | 78 | 72 | 74 | 224 |
| W/D | Tyler McCumber | - | 70 | 68 | - | 138 |
| W/D | Wilson Furr | - | 66 | 77 | - | 143 |
