Steve Stricker slid atop the leaderboard of the Kaulig Companies Championship on Saturday after shooting a 67 in the third round at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
Stricker, who won the event last year, enters Sunday’s final round at 9-under 210. He has a one-shot lead over Ernie Els (64 on Saturday) of South Africa and Robert Karlsson (66) of Sweden.
Striker birdied six holes to override three bogeys, his first multi-bogey round of the event. He slipped to even after bogeying the 10th hole but birdied the 11th to slide back under par, where he remained for the rest of the round.
“Today I didn’t play very well,” Striker said. “I scored well.”
Stricker sandwiched a pair of birdies around his final bogey on the par-4 15th. His birdie on 18 closed a 3-under 70 on the par 70, 7,400-yard South Course.
“It’s a tough golf course,” Stricker said. “You get out of position, you have to rely on your short game a lot and I got out of position quite a bit of times today. … It’s one of those courses that just keeps coming after you, too. If you’re off a little bit, you pay the price.”
Stricker, 57, shot 11-under at Kaulig last year to secure his 16th PGA Tour Champions win. His latest title came at the Sanford International last September.
New Zealand’s Steven Alker, who entered Saturday one shot ahead of Stricker, slipped to a tie for 10th place after carding a 74, leaving him at 3-under for the tournament.
Alker was solid through the first seven holes before he quickly crumbled. He bogeyed three straight holes, including a double-bogey on the par-4 10th. Back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 13 and 14 swelled Alker to 5-over.
Els pulled within a stroke of the lead by orchestrating a bogey-free day. He briefly claimed a share of the lead when he eagled the par-4 17th, one-hopping a wedge shot from the rough.
“The ball came out beautifully, Els said of the shot, which dropped him to 8-under. “Can’t see the ball land, as you know, and I just watched the crowd behind. The one tall guy behind just went really, you know, ballistic, so I knew it was in, so it was really cool.”
Els piled up four birdies in addition to his eagle to finish the round 6-under. The 54-year-old is seeking his third PGA Tour Champions win this year, having already won the Principal Charity Classic and the American Family Insurance Championship.
Karlsson, 54, had a clean day as well, tallying four birdies, including one on No. 18 to finish the round 4-under.
“I hit a couple of poor drives and one I put myself in a bad, bad position, but the other ones I got away with. That’s what happens when you’re playing well,” Karlsson said.
He is still chasing his first Champions victory.
–Field Level Media
