Lee Hodges shot 4-under-par 67 and moved into a tie with Lucas Glover through three rounds of the John Deere Classic on Saturday at Silvis, Ill.
Glover, the second-round leader, posted 69. The duo is at 16-under 197 with a one-stroke advantage going into Sunday’s final round at TPC Deere Run.
Ben Kohles (66 on Saturday), Jackson Suber (66) and Zac Blair (67) are one shot back. No member of that trio has won on the PGA Tour.
Other than a birdie on No. 17, Glover had only pars on the backside.
Kohles, appearing in a PGA Tour tournament for the eighth time this year, recorded birdies on three of the final five holes.
Most golfers had completed their rounds before a lightning delay with 10 golfers still needing to finish the round. Play resumed about 45 minutes later.
Blair, playing his ninth PGA Tour event of the season, posted an eagle on the second hole, though he gave that back with a double-bogey 6 on No. 11 marking the only glitch in his round until a bogey on No. 18.
Doug Ghim (65) is in sixth at 14 under and Zach Johnson (66) seventh at 13 under.
Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune (69) is tied for eighth place at 12 under with amateur Preston Stout (66), Chandler Phillips (65) and Max Homa (68).
Other than Hisatsune, the leaderboard’s top 18 golfers is comprised of U.S. golfers, perhaps fitting for Independence Day.
The best round of the day was turned in by Rickie Fowler with 63, a mark that reflected just one bogey. He notched an eagle on the par-4 14th, with a putt from about 40 feet and is among those tied for 12th at 11 under.
The start of the round was delayed because of weather-related concerns, then golfers were sent off on Nos. 1 and 10 in threesomes, so the round was on track to be completed sooner than initially projected until the suspension late in the round.
