Sharp-shooting Young guns his way to five-shot lead
Young, seeking his first victory on the PGA Tour, was at 20 under 190 for a five-stroke advantage over Colombia's Nico Echavarria at Greenboro, North Carolina, after Saturday's third round.
The 28-year-old Young has been a runner-up seven times since joining the tour in 2022.
Echavarria, who shot 64, had birdies on four of the final seven holes to rise into contention.
Chris Kirk (67), Mac Meissner (70) and defending champion Aaron Rai (69) of England are tied for third at 12 under.
Karl Vilips was the leading Australian, 13 shots behind Young and tied for 21st place at seven under after rounds of 67, 67 and 69.
His compatriots Cam Davis and Adam Scott are both tied for 36th, sitting at five under.
Davis has been a model of consistency, following 68s in his first two rounds with a 69 in the third.
Scott matched Davis's third-round 69, after earlier rounds of 65 and 71.
Aaron Baddeley is 74th at one over after rounds of 70, 67 and a disappointing 74.
Young, who was at 15 under through the first two rounds, with the 125 matching the tournament's 36-hole scoring record, was tearing through Sedgefield Country Club.
Through six holes of the third round, Young's margin rose to eight strokes. He had birdies on holes No.3 to No.6, and until the 15th hole on Saturday Young's lone bogey in the tournament came on No.1 (his 10th hole) of the first round.
Rai lost the momentum he had in the second round when he came back to complete the round on Saturday morning. Then in the third round, he was two over through 12 holes before three consecutive birdies put him back in the mix.
Amateur Jackson Koivun shot 65 and is alone in sixth place at 11 under.
South Korea's Sungae Im, after a pair of 64s and playing in the final group in the third round, dipped with a 73 and to be nine under.
The Wyndham Championship is the last tournament on the PGA Tour's regular season, so there will be crucial developments in Sunday's round as golfers aim to secure spots in the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings to qualify for the post-season.
- with AAP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
38 minutes ago
- Perth Now
'Hell of a team': Lions' gushing praise for Wallabies
Joe Schmidt has ruled out extending his Wallabies coaching tenure, despite presiding over one of Australia's headiest Test wins since the glory days of the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Schmidt must have been tempted to ask Rugby Australia about staying on until the 2027 global showpiece on Australian shores after gracious British and Irish coach Andy Farrell heaped stunning praise on the Wallabies after falling 22-12 to the inspired hosts on Saturday night. But the committed family man insists he won't entertain any such idea, saying his priority after this year's Rugby Championship will be caring for his ailing son Luke, who has severe epilepsy. Queensland Reds mentor Les Kiss will take over from Schmidt after the 2026 Super Rugby season - and the New Zealander remains comfortable with that. "I'm looking forward to Les Kiss coming in and taking over," Schmidt said. "I actually apologised to the players a little while ago. I bit one of their heads off. My son had had a bad day, and I can normally separate the two things, but it does impact me when he's had a bad day. "And so I know that I have a short enough shelf life and need to be more present at home. "I haven't been home for two months, so as much as I just think they're a great group of young men, there's other things that I need to make sure I tick off." While it hasn't all been smooth sailing since taking over from Eddie Jones last year, the Wallabies' progression under Schmidt has been obvious, and Farrell reckons Australian fans have every right to dream big two years out from the next World Cup down under. If not for a controversial no-penalty in the last-minute 29-26 second-Test loss to the Lions in Melbourne, the Wallabies would have won the series instead of losing it 2-1. And Farrell knows his side was given more than a run for their money, despite critics claiming the sixth-ranked Wallabies didn't even deserve to host the Lions in 2025. "I went on record last week saying I thought it was insulting about people asking the question about the Wallabies and Lions touring here etc," Farrell said. "I mean, everyone has their ups and downs. Have a look at the progress over the last 18 months. It's been through the roof, and you look at that side that's been out there over the last three weeks. "They're a hell of a team. I said to Joe before the game on the pitch that I think special things are going to happen for this team over the next 18 months, and by the time the World Cup comes around, they'll be a force to be reckoned with, like everyone's seen in the past. "They've got some special athletes and some special players, and it's no surprise to us how they've performed over the last couple of weeks." The Wallabies' stirring victory at Accor Stadium was the perfect precursor for a gruelling start to the Rugby Championship. Schmidt's side heads to South Africa for back-to-back Tests against the world champion Springboks in Johannesburg and Cape Town on August 17 and 24. "Hopefully we're on the way and now we go to South Africa to verse the best team in the world," said Wallabies captain Harry Wilson. "So we've got another epic battle ahead of us, and the one thing we will take from tonight is a lot of confidence, and probably from last week too."
Perth Now
38 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Popyrin pushed to limit to make Canada quarter-finals
Australia's Alexei Popyrin remains on track for back-to-back Canadian Open titles after fighting his way to a three-set win over fifth seed Holger Rune. For the second match in a row in Toronto, 18th-seeded Popyrin had to claw his way back after losing the first set, beating the talented Dane 4-6 6-2 6-3 on Saturday (local time). It was just the second career meeting between the pair and squared the ledger at one apiece, Rune having won their only previous encounter in a tough three-setter on clay at the 2023 Rome Masters. Popyrin, the defending champion in Canada, is looking to continue his impressive run at this tournament, his victory over Rune his ninth consecutive win at the event. The Australian also recovered from the loss of the first set of his third-round match to score a 5-7 6-4 6-4 win over former world No.1 and 2021 US Open and Canadian Open champ Daniil Medvedev of Russia. Popyrin has his sights set on back-to-back Canadian Open titles after thrashing Russia's Andrey Rublev 6-2 6-4 in last year's final. In the quarter-finals, Popyrin faces top-seeded Alexander Zverev, who advanced after the No.14 seed Francisco Cerundolo, of Argentina, was forced to retire with an abdominal injury with the German leading 6-4 1-0. Zverev, the 2017 Canadian Open champion who is ranked third in the world, ended up the top seed in Toronto after the world's top top-ranked players Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz skipped the event. Another Australian, ninth-seeded Alex de Minaur, plays his round-of-16 clash against American Frances Tiafoe on Sunday (Monday AEST). De Minaur came to Canada in impeccable form, having won last week's Washington Open, his 10th career title. The fleet-footed Aussie will be hoping to continue his dazzling recent form at the year's final major, the US Open, which starts in New York on August 24. De Minaur has twice reached the quarter-finals at the hard-court event at Flushing Meadows, firstly in 2021, then repeating that effort last year. In other results on Saturday, Alex Michelsen reached the quarter-finals after toppling fellow American Learner Tien 6-3 6-3. Michelsen next faces 11th-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov, a 6-4 7-5 winner over eighth-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud. - with AP
West Australian
38 minutes ago
- West Australian
'Hell of a team': Lions' gushing praise for Wallabies
Joe Schmidt has ruled out extending his Wallabies coaching tenure, despite presiding over one of Australia's headiest Test wins since the glory days of the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Schmidt must have been tempted to ask Rugby Australia about staying on until the 2027 global showpiece on Australian shores after gracious British and Irish coach Andy Farrell heaped stunning praise on the Wallabies after falling 22-12 to the inspired hosts on Saturday night. But the committed family man insists he won't entertain any such idea, saying his priority after this year's Rugby Championship will be caring for his ailing son Luke, who has severe epilepsy. Queensland Reds mentor Les Kiss will take over from Schmidt after the 2026 Super Rugby season - and the New Zealander remains comfortable with that. "I'm looking forward to Les Kiss coming in and taking over," Schmidt said. "I actually apologised to the players a little while ago. I bit one of their heads off. My son had had a bad day, and I can normally separate the two things, but it does impact me when he's had a bad day. "And so I know that I have a short enough shelf life and need to be more present at home. "I haven't been home for two months, so as much as I just think they're a great group of young men, there's other things that I need to make sure I tick off." While it hasn't all been smooth sailing since taking over from Eddie Jones last year, the Wallabies' progression under Schmidt has been obvious, and Farrell reckons Australian fans have every right to dream big two years out from the next World Cup down under. If not for a controversial no-penalty in the last-minute 29-26 second-Test loss to the Lions in Melbourne, the Wallabies would have won the series instead of losing it 2-1. And Farrell knows his side was given more than a run for their money, despite critics claiming the sixth-ranked Wallabies didn't even deserve to host the Lions in 2025. "I went on record last week saying I thought it was insulting about people asking the question about the Wallabies and Lions touring here etc," Farrell said. "I mean, everyone has their ups and downs. Have a look at the progress over the last 18 months. It's been through the roof, and you look at that side that's been out there over the last three weeks. "They're a hell of a team. I said to Joe before the game on the pitch that I think special things are going to happen for this team over the next 18 months, and by the time the World Cup comes around, they'll be a force to be reckoned with, like everyone's seen in the past. "They've got some special athletes and some special players, and it's no surprise to us how they've performed over the last couple of weeks." The Wallabies' stirring victory at Accor Stadium was the perfect precursor for a gruelling start to the Rugby Championship. Schmidt's side heads to South Africa for back-to-back Tests against the world champion Springboks in Johannesburg and Cape Town on August 17 and 24. "Hopefully we're on the way and now we go to South Africa to verse the best team in the world," said Wallabies captain Harry Wilson. "So we've got another epic battle ahead of us, and the one thing we will take from tonight is a lot of confidence, and probably from last week too."
