Max Homa, James Hahn in Top Three at PGA Tour Event After 3 Rounds
A pair of former Cal golfers, Max Homa and James Hahn, put themselves into position to win the Wells Fargo Championship after strong third-round showings in difficult conditions at the TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm course in Potomac, Maryland, on Saturday.
Heading into Sunday's final round, Homa is alone in second place, two strokes behind leader Keegan Bradley, and Hahn is tied for third place, four strokes off the lead, saying he was thinking about Batman and one of Batman's villains on the course in the cold, wet, blustery conditions.
"I love it," said Hahn, who grew up in Alameda, Calif., of the conditions. "Felt like when I was growing up. To me it feels like I'm home. I was thinking about Batman of all things. [Batman villain] Bane was born in the dark, molded in the dark, and that's kind of me. I was born in the rain. I love the rain. I feel like I'm at peace here. I feel like I have more advantage in the rain the harder the conditions are."
Hahn fired a 2-over 72, putting him at 4-under for the event and tied with Anirban Lahiri for third place, four shots off the lead.
Hahn's biggest problem may have been with someone eating chips while he was putting.
Homa had a strange round in which he started the day three strokes off the lead, then led the event by two strokes after five holes and finished with a 1-over-par 71. That left him in second place for the tournament at 6-under, two strokes behind third-round leader Bradley, who shot a 3-under-par 67 Saturday and is at 8-under for the tournament.
Homa acknowledged the conditions made it difficult to record a low score.
"Yeah, it was crazy," he said. "The cold obviously made the ball go shorter, the lack of roll on the fairways made the ball go shorter, so the course played really long."
He believes his iron play will be an advantage in these conditions, and so will the right attitude.
"My goal is to try to have fun, try to keep smiling," he said. "You're going to make bogeys, you're going to hit some really weird golf shots. You've just got to kind of accept it. I think the attitude is a big thing today and tomorrow honestly."
Only four players shot under part Saturday, and Hahn called it "The biggest grind I've had in my life."
The biggest victim of the conditions was Jason Day. He entered the third round with a three-stroke lead on the field at 10 under par, but he bogeyed the third hole, triple-bogeyed the fourth hole and bogeyed the fifth hole. That enabled Homa, who began the day in second place, three shots off the lead, to grab a two-shot lead on the field as he stepped to the tee for the sixth hole.
Bradley jumped ahead of Homa midway through the round and stayed ahead with the best round of the day. Homa was shot just 1-over-par over the final 13 holes, and made some outstanding shots, like this one:
Homa's Saturday scorecard
Day finished with a 9-over 79 and is at 2-under for the tournament.
Hahn had an fairly even day, considering the conditions. He had one birdie and two bogeys through the first eight holes, but had nothing but pars the rest of the way until he barely missed a par putt on the 18th. So instead being alone in third place, Hahn dropped int a tie for third. Here is Hahn's scorecard:
Homa will be shooting for his fourth PGA Tour victory on Sunday and his second of this PGA Tour season. He won the Fortinet in Napa, Calif., back in September.
Hahn will go after his third PGA Tour win, but it would be his first since 2016.