Shane Lowry goes into today’s final round of the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches seven shots behind Jake Knapp after being denied on the greens en route to a one-under 70 in Florida.
The Offaly man went into the third round tied for 15th, five shots behind the American at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens.
But while he made three birdies on a difficult day, he didn’t hole a putt longer than a five-footer at the third until he rolled in an eight-footer for a closing par-five at the Champion Course.
Lowry’s 32-putt round left him tied for 35th on nine-under, seven shots behind Knapp, who birdied two of his last three holes for a three-under 68 and a one-shot lead over Michael Kim (67) on 16-under.
“A little bit all over the place,” said Knapp, who opened with a 59 and led by a shot at halfway only to find himself three shots off the pace as he turned in one-over.
The American (30) saved the best for last, making a 12-footer for a birdie at the 16th before chipping and putting for a closing birdie four.
As many as ten players had a share of the lead during the third round, and no fewer than 22 are within five shots of the lead today.
Russell Henley (66), Ben Griffin (66) and Doug Ghim (68) are just two shots behind Knapp on 14-under with Rickie Fowler (68) and Taylor Montgomery (68) a further shot back.
“There’s plenty of great players out here who can go stupid low, so just have to try to stick to my game plan,” said Knapp, who opened with a 59.
