LOS CABOS, Mexico (AP) — Jarek Higo tied the El Cardonal course record at Diamante with an 11-under 61 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead over Carson Young heading into the final round of the Tech World Championship.
The South African, who has already had a win this season, shot for eagle on the first hole – a par five. He made par at second and followed it up with five straight birdies for a 7-under 29 on the front nine.
The 26-year-old golfer added four birdies in the second half, the last of which was the par-5 18th to reach a total of 194, 22 under par.
“I shot the ball really well, made a lot of good shots and scored. Everything was really solid and I made the most of my chances,” Hijo said.
Young had 11 birdies and two bogeys in a 63. The 30-year-old former Clemson player has no wins on the PGA Tour.
“I just have to keep doing what I’m doing and focus on playing my game without looking at the leaderboard too much or worrying about other people,” Young said. “I’m excited because last year I finished second here and lost by one point in the tiebreak. It feels like some kind of revenge to be in the last group again. I’m excited to see if I can pull it off.”
Ryder Cup rookie Ben Griffin (66) was two shots inside, as were Trevor Cone (65) and Chad Ramey (67). Sami Valimaki (69) was 19 under, and second round leader Matti Schmid (71) was 18 under.
On Thursday, Valimaki and Nick Dunlap each had 61 hits.
There are only three tournaments left, including this one at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, this season. The top 100 players in the FedEx Cup — down from 125 in previous years — retain their full PGA Tour cards for next season. Higo is ranked 57th, Young is 136th, Kwon is 179th, Rami is 123rd, Flemacki is 103rd and Schmid is 70th.
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