-22 S-Woo Kim (Kor); -21 B Brown (USA), S Scheffler (USA); -20 W Clark (United States), E Cole (United States); -19 T Hoge (USA), M McCarty (USA), A Putnam (USA)
Others selected: -15 M Fitzpatrick (English), R Fowler (USA); -14 R MacIntyre (Scotland), A Scott (Australia), R MacIntyre (Scotland); -13 S Power (Ireland); -12 J Parry (English)
Advertisement
Complete leaderboard
South Korean Si-Woo Kim took a one-stroke lead over Scottie Scheffler and teenager Blades Brown after the third round of the American Express in California.
Kim, vying to win the tournament for the second time, shot a 66 to move to the top of the leaderboard at 22 under par after a round that included seven birdies and one bogey.
“Just don’t think about trying to win or finish, just enjoy the round,” Kim said. “That’s my goal.”
American Scheffler, who is making his first appearance of the season on the PGA Tour, and his 18-year-old compatriot Brown, who would become the second-youngest winner of a PGA Tour event with a victory, came around with 68s.
Advertisement
World number one Scheffler had six birdies and two bogeys in his round, while Brown had five birdies and one bogey.
“I think I did pretty well,” Scheffler said. “There are definitely challenging aspects of playing in the wind here. I just have to be a little smarter tomorrow.”
Unusually, the course was played on three different courses in the first three rounds and Kim’s third round was on the La Quinta Country Club course, while Scheffler and Brown were on the Pete Dye Stadium course.
Three of Brown’s five birdies came on the final three holes and included him holing a 44-foot shot on the 18th.
Advertisement
“That to me is a lot of fun. I love environments like that, especially the 17th,” Brown said.
“There are so many people around, it gets your adrenaline pumping. And that’s why you play and practice, right?”
He added: “Another 18 holes and we’ll see what we can do.”