ON THE LINKS Saturday’s pro golf results

PGA TOUR

Top-ranked Johnson takes one-shot lead at RBC Heritage

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C.

Dustin Johnson, known for length off the tee, showed off his precise ball-positioning and hot putter Saturday to take the RBC Heritage lead.

Johnson shot a 3-under 68 for a one-shot lead over Shane Lowry, Ian Poulter and Rory Sabbatini.

The top-ranked Johnson, a South Carolina native who had not played his home state’s only PGA Tour stop for nine years before returning in 2018, seems to have found a home on Harbour Town Golf Links’ narrow fairways and smallish greens. He had his sixth round in the 60s over the last two years to reach 10 under.

“I’m really enjoying playing in it,” Johnson said. “I really enjoyed playing in it last year after being away for so long. It’s something I look forward to now. We have a really big fan base here and growing up in South Carolina definitely helps.”

Lowry led the first 48 holes before making three bogeys on his final six holes in a 71. Poulter shot a 67, and Sabbatini had a 68.

Patrick Cantlay kept up his stellar weekend play and was two shots behind. Cantlay shot 64-68 last week at the Masters and had a 66 to lead a group of six at 8 under.

Johnson, who’s won 20 PGA Tour titles, showed off other parts of his game that sometimes get overlooked by his massive drives. He saved par out of the pine straw after a bad drive to the right and into the trees on the 12th hole, then made birdie on the par-5 15th after putting his tee shot in the woods. He hit just five of 14 fairways, yet had only 25 putts.

“The course played tough. It was very challenging,” he said. “It was tough getting balls close to the hole.”

So Johnson just made a bunch of long putts. He had a 20-footer for birdie on the sixth hole and a 19-footer for birdie on the 13th. The highlight came at No. 14 when Johnson dropped a 47-foot bomb that caught the lip of the cup and rolled almost all the way around before dropping.

Was there some secret to Johnson’s play?

“No,” he said, “they just went in.”

If he can keep it up today, Johnson will become the second South Carolina born player to win the RBC, joining friend and Dutch Fork High golf teammate Wesley Bryan, who became the first two years ago.

Johnson won the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship in February and tied for second last week in the Masters.

Lowry was the steadiest of anyone for the first 21/2 rounds and held a three-stroke lead over Johnson entering the back nine before faltering. The Irishman came up short on a sand shot on the 13th hole and took bogey. He put his tee shot into the water on the par-3 14th for a second straight bogey. Two holes later, Lowry added his third bogey after going the first 48 holes with just one.

Lowry was among 56 competitors who had to finish the rain-delayed second round in the morning.

Poulter is seeking a bit of payback on Harbour Town after last year. He was the 54-hole leader with three sub-70 rounds before ballooning to a 75 on Sunday. He opened his third round this time with a double-bogey 6, but rallied with six birdies the rest of the way to stay close.

Sabbatini strung together nine straight pars to close his round.

Cantlay bounced back after putting up a 72 in the second rou ∫nd with a bogey-free round. He said he’s kept the good mindset he had at Augusta National last week.

“Playing that well on the weekend was obviously huge,” he said. “I feel like I usually play well and close strong.”

CHampions TOUR

McCarron has 3-stroke lead

DULUTH, GA.

Scott McCarron birdied the par-5 18th hole Saturday to take a three-stroke lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ Mitsubishi Electric Classic.

The 53-year-old McCarron completed a 4-under 68 in the morning in the rain-delayed second round and shot a 70 in the afternoon to reach 6-under 138 at TPC Sugarloaf, the site of his last two PGA Tour titles.

“It was a grind all the way. It was a tough day again,” McCarron said. “The wind was up, it was very cold, tough to get the ball close. You can see with the scores. ... The golf course is playing very difficult. And 2 under, I felt like I left a couple out there, but I also made a couple really good par saves, too.”

McCarron has eight victories on the 50-and-over tour. He won three times on the PGA Tour, taking the BellSouth Classic at the course in 1997 and 2001.

“It’s a long time,” McCarron said. “But again, once you come back to a golf course you play well at, those memories start coming back to you. You start seeing lines off tees that you took, you start seeing maybe some of the putts you made coming down the stretch. Even though it’s a long time, I still have a pretty good memory of the good stuff.”

Rocco Mediate was second, following an opening 73 with a 68.

“For me, it was really good,” Mediate said. “I put it on 17 greens today, which is sweet. Still, the putting is so hard around here. Jeez, oh, man, the putting’s hard around here. They’re just so fast. They’re firm. They’re still lightning, they’re still bricks, so you’ve got to have control.”

Miguel Angel Jimenez (70) was 2 under along with Kent Jones (68), Joe Durant (70) and Kirk Triplett (70). Jimenez, the 2014 winner, closed with a double bogey on 18.

Bernhard Langer was tied for 20th at 2 over after rounds of 77 and 69. The 61-year-old German star won the 2013 event and finished second four of the last five years. He won the Oasis Championship in February for his 39th Champions title.

Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz was tied for 68th in the 78-player field at 10 over, finishing off a first-round 80 and shooting 74 in the second. The former Atlanta Brave got into the field on a sponsor exemption. He tied for 53rd in Tucson, Ariz., in March his tour debut.

Fellow former big league pitcher Shigetoshi Hasegawa also struggled, shooting 79-78 to drop into a tie for 74th at 13 over. He also got a sponsor exemption.

LPGA TOUR

Henderson, Korda share lead in Hawaii

KAPOLEI, HAWAII

Defending champion Brooke Henderson shot a 3-under 69 on Friday at blustery Ko Olina Golf Club for a share of the third-round lead with Nelly Korda in the Lotte Championship.

Korda had a 71, matching Henderson with a bogey on the par-4 18 to get to 14-under 202.

“There are still 18 more holes left and a lot can happen” Korda said. “The weather is unpredictable. The wind swirls and gusts, so it’ll be an interesting day. We’re all going to be fighting.”

The 21-year-old Henderson is trying to match Sanda Post record for LPGA Tour victories by a Canadian with eight.

“It was really windy today,” Henderson said. “Really had to stay patient.”

The 20-year-old Korda won the Women’s Australian Open in February for her second LPGA Tour title. She opened the season with five straight top-10 finishes before tying for 52nd two weeks ago in the major ANA Inspiration. On Friday, she birdied Nos. 12, 14 and 16, before dropping the stroke on 18.

“Was a bit of a frustrating day on the front nine,” Korda said. “Was not hitting it well. I was not putting well at all. Kind of got it back on the back nine. It was pretty frustrating today. Wasn’t the happiest camper out there.”

Minjee Lee and second-round leader Eun-Hee Ji were a stroke back. Lee, the Australian who won the 2016 event, had a 70. She was bogey-free and also birdie-free, but did chip-in for eagle on the fifth hole.

“It was pretty hard out there,” Lee said. “The wind was really gusty and the pin placements were pretty hard for the wind direction we had.”

Ji shot 74 after opening with rounds of 65 and 74.

Ariya Jutanugarn made the third day’s most dramatic move, shooting a 66 to bolt from nine back to two. She avoided bogeys, drained long putts — she needed just 23 — and birdied all but one of the par 5s.

Associated Press