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Pendrith moved to 17-under 196 following his 6-under-par 65 on
the Port Royal Golf Course as he built the largest 54-hole lead
in tournament history. His solid round came one day after he
delivered a course-record 10-under 61.
"For whatever reason, it is hard to follow up a low one with
another low one, but I've been hitting it really nicely and just
had to stay patient today," Pendrith said. "I hit some really
nice shots early and didn't make a birdie until I think 8.
With two birdies over the final three holes, Pendrith moved
three shots ahead of New Zealand's Danny Lee (65) and four ahead
of Austraila's Lucas Herbert (65). A non-American has won each
of the last three PGA Tour events.
Patrick Rodgers (69) and Vincent Whaley (68) are in a tie for
fourth place heading into Sunday's final round.
Just like in Thursday's opening round, windy and rainy
conditions are forecast for Sunday's final 18 holes. Pendrith
had a 1-under 70 on Thursday.
"It's nice to have a couple-shot lead, but anything can happen,"
Pendrith said. "It's going to be crazy out there, so just try to
make some pars I think will be good tomorrow and hit some solid
shots and try not to fall over."
Lee was at 6 under during Saturday's round through 11 holes, but
stumbled with back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 13 and 14 before a
birdie at No. 15 and another at the par-5 17th hole. He closed
with a par at 18.
"Everything went very smoothly today," said Lee, whose only
other victory on the PGA Tour came six years ago. "There's no
really big mis-hits other than 13 and 14 off the tee, but other
than that, everything was really good. ... I could have done a
little better with the second shot on 18, but it's just golf, so
I'll just go to the driving range and work on it a little bit, I
guess."
Herbert, in just his 19th career start on the PGA Tour delivered
his second consecutive 65, closing with four birdies on the back
nine, the last at 17. His best career finish is a tie for 18th
at the 2021 Memorial Tournament. He does have two victories in
Europe.
"I mean, it's definitely a big thing to have won before and know
what it takes to win," Herbert said. "I've kind of done it from
both scenarios, I've been a few shots back going into the final
round and I've led going into the final round. Yeah, I feel I've
got some experience there."
Starting Sunday's final round six shots off the lead at 11 under
will be Justin Lower (67) and Peter Malnati (67), who are tied
for sixth. Another shot back tied for eighth are Curtis Thompson
and Patrick Flavin.
Patrick Reed, the highest ranked player in the field at No. 24
in the world, shot a 68 on Saturday and is at 8 under, in a
five-way tie for 17th place.
--Field Level Media
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