With rounds of 66-64-62 for an 18-under, 192 total, Lucas Glover recorded his best opening 54-hole score on Tour for a share of the lead in the Wyndham Championship. His previous best was 196 at the 2010 Wyndham Championship where he finished 7th and the 2019 Shriners Children’s Open where he finished T9.
“Irons were pretty sharp today, hit it close a bunch and putted nicely. Kind of a sloppy three-putt on 8 for my only bogey, but came right back, birdied 9 and 10 and got it going again. So very happy.
“I grew up on putting a lot of bermuda greens, I seem to read the greens pretty well. I think I’m OK laying back off the tees a lot to make sure I’m in the fairway. When my irons are sharp, I seem to be able to make a lot of birdies. I think you try to attack this place a little too aggressive and miss some fairways, it can bite you. I learned that quite a while ago. I think it’s just a “fairways first” mentality, and then if you get some good numbers and hit it close, you’ve got a good chance to make some birdies.
His most recent of his four PGA Tour victories came at the 2021 John Deere Classic. This third-round 8-under 62 is his 17th consecutive par-or-better round on Tour.
Tied alongside Glover in the lead is fellow American Billy Horschel who carded a bogey-free 63 to also post his lowest opening 54-hole score on Tour. His previous best was 195 at the 2020 Wyndham Championship where he finished runner-up.
“I felt I’ve been putting well. The stroke’s been good all year, I just haven’t made a lot of putts, especially since the more I felt like I’ve hit it pretty well, I just haven’t made any putts. So we switched putters last week, just felt like needed a new look. So we’re using an Odyssey right now. We sort of messed around with a Ping putter earlier this week and we thought we were going to use that, but I had a little hard time with longer putts, judging the speed with it, so we went back to this Odyssey and it’s working well.
“The big thing for me is feeling comfortable over my setup. If I feel comfortable, I feel like I
can make anything. The biggest key, I felt like a lot of — my putter for the last month has been aiming left of where I want it to be. So this putter right now feels like it’s a little more open, sits a little more open for me, which it’s matching up my line and my feels so I just feel very comfortable with it right now.
“I’m a big fan of courses where it requires precision. I don’t mind if a course, it allows guys to be long, but I like it when if you’re offline, you get punished. And if you’re offline here and miss the fairways, it’s tough to play from the rough. I think being able to put the ball in the fairway, that’s something I’ve worked really hard on. It’s something I’ve become really good at the last two or three years. It fits my game, it fits my eye. I love putting on bermuda greens, fast, slopey greens.”
The most recent of Horschel’s seven Tour victories came at the Memorial Tournament in 2022.
The 2014 FedExCup Champion has qualified for the Playoffs in each of the last 10 seasons and needs a two-way T2 to have a chance to move into the top 70 of the FedExCup standings.
First- and second-round outright leader Russell Henley of the United States posted a 65 and falls one stroke behind the leaders at 17-under.
South Korean Byeong Hun An also carded a 65 and lies in fourth place three shots behind the leaders.
Germany’s Stephan Jaeger shot 64 to move into fifth place at 13-under.
FedExCup Playoffs notes
The Wyndham Championship is the final event of the FedExCup Regular Season, with the top 70 in the FedExCup standings qualifying for next week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship (the first Playoffs event).
Players currently projected to move into the top 70 in the standings are Lucas Glover (No. 112/projected No. 50) and Billy Horschel (No. 116/projected No. 53).
Players projected to fall out of the top 70 in the standings are Ben Griffin (No. 68/projected No. 71) and Austin Eckroat (No. 70/projected No. 74).
Matt Kuchar (T51/-3; projected No. 62 in the FedExCup) is one of two players who have qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs in each season since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007; the other is Adam Scott (T34/-5; projected No. 84).
