Seamus Power knew he needed to make birdies early in his round and made the turn in 31. He made four more on the back nine as well as one double bogey at the par-3 13th to close with a 65 and a share of the lead at 18-under.
The round of the day goes to @Power4Seamus.
He holds a share of the lead @Bermuda_Champ. pic.twitter.com/GreZ8cE4Bf
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 29, 2022
"I'm very pleased with that," said the Irishman. "Did a lot of good things, putted really nicely. And I'm kind of - you know, proud of yourself sounds funny, but having that double bogey kind of to start a tough stretch and I was able to hang in there and actually get them back, so that was a huge bonus.
"But yeah, it was tough going out there. You knew you had to make your score in the first 11 or 12 and then kind of hold on for dear life, and I was able to do that for the most part. as I said, very pleased.
"The greens are softer this year so you do have a chance, but even still, like you don't have much margin for error. I made some nice putts. You had to get the par 5s. I got two out of the three and then add in a few putts. But 6 under, you knew it was going to be tough because as I said, once you get to 13, 13 through 16 there's just very, very difficult. I mean, I hit some good shots. Even on 13 I thought I hit a very good 4-iron, but like the ball's in the air off the elevated tee and just keeps moving and moving and misses on the
short side and you make a double.
"Even on I think 15 I had a pitch shot that kind of summed it up. I ended up in a funny spot off the tee, I had like 50 yards for a pitch shot and I aimed my pitch shot about 10 yards left of the pin and ended up right of the pin. It was just one of those kind of days, your imagination had to keep working. Your focus and trust had to be there and mine was for the most part."
When the wind is up ... knock it down.
Just like solo leader @BenGriffinGolf. pic.twitter.com/MRlPLjIeRa
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 29, 2022
American Ben Griffin started his round with three consecutive birdies and closed with a 66 to join Power in the lead.
"The conditions were blustery. My round was, honestly, I feel like I kept it in play a lot and gave myself a lot of good looks, so I felt like I played a relatively clean round. In these conditions I feel like some guys could get themselves on difficult sides of the golf course and I did a really good job of kind of keeping it in the right spot.
"The only kind of fluke on my scorecard was No. 13, the par 3, but it was playing really hard. I thought I left it in a really good spot, but I had just kind of a nasty lie and wasn't able to get up and down. But it was a pretty clean round and I was pretty content with how I fought out there. Now I'm in contention going into tomorrow."
Burnout and financial strain caused @BenGriffinGolf to walk away from golf nearly 2 years ago.
He briefly worked as a mortgage loan officer before returning to the @KornFerryTour last season.
He'll play in the final group Sunday as the 54-hole co-leader @Bermuda_Champ ❤️ pic.twitter.com/inrp22Gnrk
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 29, 2022
Taiwan's Kevin Yu carded a 67 for a share of third place at 16 under alongside Australia's Aaron Baddeley (68).
American Brian Gay lies in solo fifth place at 15-under after closing with a 66.
Overnight Ben Crane closed with a 73 and lies in T9 at 12-under.
