Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Tournament of Champions 2021: Harris English, Ryan Palmer Tied for Lead

Blake Schuster

Harris English hasn't won a PGA Tour event since 2013, but he's 18 holes away from capturing a wire-to-wire victory at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. 

As Round 3 ended at the Kapalua Resort in Hawaii, English (21 under) returned to the clubhouse after shooting a crisp 66 to keep him in the lead, though a round of 64 by Ryan Palmer (21 under) means English no longer has a solo hold on the top of the leaderboard. 

No one put together a better Saturday than Palmer, who took three strokes off his game after shooting a 67 in each of his first two rounds at the Sentry. 

Collin Morikawa (20 under) continued to make notable gains as well but remains one stroke off the lead. 

Here's where things stand after Saturday.

         

Round 3 Leaderboard

T1. Ryan Palmer (-21)

T1. Harris English (-21)

3. Collin Morikawa (-20)

4. Daniel Berger (-18)

T5. Sungjae Im (-17)

T5. Justin Thomas (-17)

T7. Billy Horschel (-16)

T7. Patrick Cantlay (-16)

T7. Joaquin Niemann (-16)

Notables: T10. Sergio Garcia (-14), T10. Jon Rahm (-14), T10. Dustin Johnson (-14), T16. Bryson DeChambeau (-13), T21. Patrick Reed (-12)

Full leaderboard available via PGA Tour

     

It was a relatively disastrous day for the No. 1 golfer in the world, as Dustin Johnson couldn't build on his momentum from Friday. Johnson shot a 65 in Round 2 only to follow that with a 69 Saturday. Most notably, after a bogey-free Friday, Johnson picked one up on the par-five No. 15. 

Par fives helped Johnson move up the leaderboard heading into the weekend, but he only converted a birdie on two of the the course's four long holes.

To find the low scores of the day, fans had to pay attention to Morikawa, English and Palmer. The trio combined for 24 birdies and no bogeys. Palmer and Morikawa both went on an epic run on the back nine to highlight their days. Morikawa sank four straight on Nos. 12-15, while Palmer did him one better with birdies on Nos. 12-16. Each birdied No. 18 to end their rounds. 

That put pressure on English late in the round, but the 31-year-old responded admirably with birdies on Nos. 14-16 to remain tied for the lead. 

Reigning Sentry champion Justin Thomas is still lurking in fifth place and only four strokes off the lead on a course that continues to beg golfers to shoot low. Thomas could've been closer to the lead, but a bit of a meltdown early Saturday haunted his round.

After a bogey on No. 4, Thomas came back with an eagle on No. 5, only to give those strokes back with a double bogey on No. 6. 

The 27-year-old played a mistake-free round the rest of the way, but he'll have to be at his best Sunday if he hopes to retain his title and finally knock English off the top of the leaderboard. 

   

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