South Africa’s Rory Sabbatini mastered gusting winds to card a four-under 66 and seize a commanding five-shot lead after three rounds at the Honda Classic on Saturday.
Sabbatini, who matched the PGA National champion course record of 64 in the second round, was again an island of calm in diabolical conditions, mixing five birdies with a single bogey — just his fourth of the week — to sit on nine-under 201.
“You can’t be complacent out there, because if you lose focus for a second it can take shots away in a hurry,” Sabbatini told reporters. “I’ve seen it with my playing partners over the past couple of days. I just have to remain focused on what I’ve been doing, just trying to keep the ball on the fairway, trying to put it on the green in regulation and just trying to let the putter do the work.”
Another day of whipping winds created havoc at the Palm Beach Garden layout, with 2009 Honda champion South Korea’s Yang Yong-eun (67) and Jerry Kelly of the US (68) battling to stay in touch on four-under 206.
Gary Woodland of the US (68) is one shot further adrift at 207, while 22-year-old USPGA Tour rookie Kyle Stanley, who had held a one-shot lead over Sabbatini overnight, slipped down the leaderboard with four-over 74 to sit seven back.
“I just try not to be greedy,” Yang said. “You can’t beat a course like this. So sometimes a course just let’s you take a birdie or two on it and I just capitalize on the moment. I’m just trying to play my own game and we’ll see at the end of tomorrow [Sunday] where I stand. If I am in contention tomorrow then I’ll try to maybe pick it up a notch, but if not, I’ll just try to play my own game.”
British world No. 2 Lee Westwood, who had a chance to reclaim top ranking from Germany’s Martin Kaymer with a solo third-place finish or better, fell out of contention with a sloppy five-over 75, ending in a run of four bogeys from the 15th.
Ernie Els, Honda champion in 2008, continued to struggle in the breezy conditions, opening and closing his round with bogeys on his way to an eight-over 78.
Through three rounds, the big South African has managed just six birdies — five in the second round — against four double-bogeys and 12 bogeys, to leave him at the bottom of the leaderboard.
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