Adam Hadwin and Taylor Pendrith made sure to let everyone at the Rocket Mortgage Classic know that Saturday was Canada Day. But that didn’t stop fan favorite Rickie Fowler from coming away with the lead at the end of the third round at 20-under par 196.
Hadwin and Pendrith had quite the showing on the leaderboard late Saturday just a river away from their home country, with Pendrith giving a nod to his roots with a red and white shirt. They finished second and third, respectively, after the third round at the Detroit Golf Club, which included a 1-hour, 42-minute delay due to inclement weather.
Hadwin started his day in the middle of the pack but broke away on the back nine. Now 19-under par in the tournament, his big break came on an eagle on the 14th hole. Hadwin hit his first shot about halfway down the fairway and used his second to find the green. A simple putt helped him shoot 4-under on four par 5s on Saturday, catapulting him onto the leaderboard. He finished his day tying a course record with a 9-under 63.
“It’s a pretty fun leaderboard right now with Taylor and I at the top on Canada Day as well,” Hadwin said. “Hopefully, yeah, goal tomorrow is just keep doing what I’ve been doing and just trying to hit golf shots and have as much fun. I haven’t been in this position in a while, especially solo.”
Hadwin finished his round first, as Pendrith and Fowler were both tied for second, one shot back through 16 holes.
Fowler, who birdied the par-5 17th to tie Hadwin, was about 15 inches short of an eagle on the hole. Pendrith refused to relinquish his position however and answered with a birdie of his own to create a three-way tie.
First place would come down to the 18th. Fowler’s second shot was just under 3 feet from the hole. His put gave him another birdie, his ninth of the day and sixth on the back nine and sole possession of the lead.
But Pendrith had one more hole to play.
He didn’t have nearly as good of position as Fowler did off the tee and had much more ground to make up on his second, resulting in a 16-foot putt for birdie. Pendrith was unable to convert, and actually bogeyed the hole, dropping him to third place.
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Tony Finau shot a 26-under 262 last year to win the tournament and set the record for four rounds.
While the top three spots are set heading into the last day of the tournament, there are still plenty of competitors eager to overtake them.
Thursday’s Round 1 leader Peter Kuest and Aaron Rai are tied for fourth. Both finished 17-under for the tournament Saturday. Kuest eagled the 14th hole and birdied the 15th while Rai birdied both holes, keeping both in contention.
Collin Morikawa finished 5-under Saturday and is tied for sixth with Carl Yuan, Dylan Wu, Justin Lower and Friday’s co-leader Taylor Moore. Morikawa was unable to make a move on the back nine, making par on eight of his last nine holes. However, his eagle and two birdies on the front allowed him the ability to still play for the trophy Sunday.
And that play will begin earlier than originally scheduled. The PGA announced that Sunday’s tee times have been moved up to 6:45-8:55 am due to forecast inclement weather expected to hit the Detroit area. Threesomes will tee off on the split tees, meaning the final group will be Fowler, Hadwin and Pendrith.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rocket Mortgage Classic: Rickie Fowler holds small lead after Round 3