By DOUG FERGUSON
The Associated Press
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Luke List can understand why he might be overlooked in the Honda Classic, even with a shot at his first PGA Tour victory.
He felt that Saturday while taking the lead.
List and Jamie Lovemark were trading birdies and keeping clean cards on the front nine at PGA National before an audience of no more than a few dozen people. Everyone else was busy watching Tiger Woods try to stay close enough to contention.
“I know I’ll be an underdog going against Justin Thomas and guys like that, which is fine,” List said. “It’s kind of nice having Tiger in the field now because he takes all the attention off everybody else, so you can just kind of go out and do your own thing.”
His thing was strong enough at PGA National. List finished with a pair of birdies around his lone bogey for a 4-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead over Thomas and Webb Simpson. List was at 7-under 203.
Woods made bogeys on the notorious par 3s on the back nine, and finished with a birdie for a 69. It was the first time he broke 70 on the PGA Tour in the 12 rounds since he first stepped away with a series of back surgeries after the 2015 Wyndham Championship.
And while only 10 players were ahead of him, Woods still was seven shots behind.
“I’ve got a shot going into tomorrow,” Woods said.
Thomas was never far away from the lead, and the final hour changed everything. The PGA champion had three birdies over his last five holes for a 65 to match the low round of the toughest tournament this year on the PGA Tour.
Particularly impressive was that two of those birdies were on the par-3 15th and par-3 17th, the second- and third-toughest holes at PGA National on Saturday. He essentially hit the same shot, a cut 6-iron into the wind to right pins and made 15-footers.
In between those par 3s was a tough par save when he hit out of a fairway bunker, into the wind and over the water to the back right green. He played a lofted pitch to 7 feet and holed it for par, a big improvement from the previous day when he four-putted the 16th for a double bogey.
“I felt like if I parred those holes in, I would have a great chance,” Thomas said. “But making those birdies, it will definitely give me a better chance.”
Simpson, the former U.S. Open champion who has not won in more than four years, played bogey-free for a 66, a card kept clean by a remarkable bunker save with an awkward stance behind the 15th green.
List has the lead, though it probably won’t feel like one with six players separated by only three shots. Tommy Fleetwood of England holed out from the fourth fairway for eagle and finished strong with a birdie on the 16th and an eagle on the final hole with an approach that rolled out to 8 feet. He shot a 67 and was at 205 along with Jamie Lovemark, whose round was spoiled by one shot.
Lovemark holed a chip for birdie from just off the 12th green to become the first player to reach 7 under. On the next hole from the back of the 13th green, his chip from 70 feet broke toward the middle of the cup, dove into the left side and spun out.
But his 7-iron into the wind and over the water on the 15th ballooned in the air and never had a chance, leading to double bogey.
Alex Noren of Sweden, who lost in a playoff at Torrey Pines, hit 3-wood that rolled out to 4 feet from the pin on No. 18 for an eagle and a 65. He was three behind.
List has enormous talent who is just starting to get the most out of it. After growing up in northern Georgia and playing at Vanderbilt, he chose to move to California about five years ago to work with Jamie Mulligan at Virginia Country Club in Long Beach.
The only other time he had at least a share of the 54-hole lead was at the 2016 Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi, held the same week as the World Golf Championship in Shanghai. He closed with a 70 and lost out to a 65 by Cody Gribble.
Qatar Masters
DOHA, Qatar — Oliver Fisher birdied his last four holes in the Qatar Masters third round to share the lead at Doha Golf Club.
The 29-year-old Englishman shot a 7-under 65 for an overall 16-under 200. Eddie Pepperell (66) picked up shots on the 16th and 18th to catch his compatriot and the pair enjoy a two-shot lead over American Sean Crocker (67) in third.
David Horsey (65) was the biggest mover of the day with the Englishman improving 31 places for a share of fourth place at 12 under with, among others, Frenchman Gregory Havret and Italian Andrea Pavan.
LPGA Thailand
CHONBURI, Thailand — Jessica Korda kept an eye on her younger sister while firing a 4-under 68 in the third round of the LPGA Thailand to lead Moriya Jutanugarn by four strokes.
A day after a course-record 62 at Siam Country Club, Korda fought back from a bogey on the front nine with five birdies to finish on 20-under 196 overall. The American was on the 18th hole when concerns over lightning suspended play for 30 minutes before play resumed.
“(I) was playing really well at the end of the season, but I haven’t been in this (leading) position. Being back, it just takes you a little bit of time,” said the 24-year-old Korda, who won her fifth and last title at the LPGA Malaysia in 2015.
Her 19-year-old sister Nelly Korda (65) is eight shots off the lead.
“I’m definitely a leaderboard watcher. I love seeing her name up there,” said Jessica Korda, who was playing her first tournament since jaw surgery.
