Phachara leads Saudi golf Open

RIYADH — Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Saudi golf Open at the Riyadh Golf Club, after carding a 67 that left him on 12 under-par.

Khongwatmai began his third round level with compatriot Denwit Boriboonsub and Australia’s Todd Sinnott.

Khongwatmai’s birdie on the 10th put him four shots ahead of Boriboonsub who double bogeyed the same hole, Reuters reported.

The Saudi Open, which has a $1 million prize fund, is the season-ending event on the Asian Tour.

Boriboonsub, the Thailand Open winner last week, rallied to birdie the next three holes, and carded a three-under 68 to leave him just off the pace going into Sunday’s final round.

Sinnott bogeyed the sixth to lose ground, but three birdies on the back nine leaves him third, two shots behind the leader, alongside India’s Veer Ahlawat and Australian Travis Smyth.

Smyth began the day five shots off the pace before six birdies on the front nine put him back in contention. He got one more birdie on the back nine to finish on seven under-par 64.

Elsewhere, Tiger Woods rejected using a golf cart in favour of walking during a pro-am round at the PNC Championship, feeling fit as he regains his form for 2024.

The 15-time major winner and his 14-year-old son Charlie will play in the 36-hole PNC Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida.

Woods, who turns 48 on December 30, has struggled to walk during competitive rounds since a 2021 car crash in which he suffered severe leg injuries.

Until finishing 18th in the 20-man Hero World Challenge two weeks ago, Woods had not played since the Masters after undergoing ankle surgery last April.

“I felt like I was physically fit to do it (walk), and also, walking is always better for my back,” Woods said.

“I just wanted to keep it loose and keep it going and we’re just having so much fun, it doesn’t really matter. We had a good time doing it.”

It will be the fourth time that Team Woods attempt to take the title against other PGA Tour stars and their family members.

“It’s a blast for us to be back out here, playing and competing and just enjoying this atmosphere,” Woods said according to AFP. “Hopefully we’re able to post something good.”

Woods said he was feeling well and not as rusty as at the World Challenge in the Bahamas earlier this month.

“Definitely a bit better,” Woods said. “I was able to knock a lot of the rust off there at Hero and my hands felt better with control hitting shots, and especially today with the wind blowing as hard as it was, I was able to hit flighted shots nicely.”

Charlie Woods has won a state high school title and given his father a new challenge as the parent of a talented young golfer.

“I provide guardrails for him and things that I would like to see him learn and address, but also, then again, I’m trying to provide as much space as I can for him,” the elder Woods said.

“There’s so much of the noise in our lives that people are always trying to get stuff out of us, and my job as a parent is to protect him from a lot of that stuff.”

Rival Justin Thomas, a two-time major winner, said a win by Woods and son would be extra special.

“In meaning, it would be number one for special,” Thomas said. “Winning majors is unbelievable and how he has won his majors, but doing that together with Charlie and as he’s watched him grow up, it would be a very different kind of win that doesn’t maybe come with the record books and history and whatnot.”