Points, Holmes flirt with 59
Jeff Overton saw J.B. Holmes and D.A. Points flirt with 59s, then rode his own hot finish to move within a round of his first PGA Tour win.
Overton overcame 2 early bogeys for a 4-under 66 on Saturday and a 3-stroke lead over Points at the Greenbrier Classic in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
Overton didn't realize his 4-shot lead was gone until after Points (from Pekin, Ill.) made a barrage of birdies to jump ahead by 3 strokes.
"If anything it might have helped me because I was like, 'Geez, what are you doing here, Jeff?' " Overton said. "Here he is 3 shots up. I was like, 'All right, we've got to get something going here.' I kind of buckled in and made some putts."
Overton made 5 birdies on the back nine of the Old White course to move to 18 under through three rounds in the inaugural tournament.
The 27-year-old Overton kept the lead despite the low rounds of the year from Points and Holmes, but their dreams of making history with 59s ended on the 572-yard 17th.
Points 3-putted for bogey, finished with a 61 and is alone in second at 15 under, and Holmes couldn't convert a 10-footer for eagle at No. 17 and shot 60.
Boo Weekley shot a 67 to reach 13 under, and Holmes is in a four-way tie for fourth with Jonathan Byrd (64), Brendon de Jonge (65) and Jimmy Walker (67) at 12 under for the tournament.
Points, seeking his first win, admitted to thinking about the 59 after holing an 11-foot putt at No. 16. But those thoughts were short lived.
His second shot on No. 17 found a greenside bunker, where he had an awkward stance and blasted out to 28 feet. His birdie attempt was well short and his 4-footer for par slid past.
Points still had a chance to become the fifth player to shoot 59 on Tour with a hole-in-one at the 148-yard 18th, a rare par-3 finishing hole. His tee shot safely found the middle of the green and he made par.
"A little disappointed at first, and fun while it lasted," Points said. "But, you know, it's one of those things that I think we all have opportunity for stuff like this. There's been a couple guys, and there's going to be somebody (today) that will probably have an opportunity."
Women's British Open: Yani Tseng shot her third straight 4-under 68, and takes a 4-stroke lead into the final round of the Women's British Open in Southport, England.
The 21-year-old star from Taiwan took advantage of the short, 472-yard, par-5 final hole by hitting an 8-iron to within 20 feet with her second shot. She rolled in the eagle putt to finish off her round, doubling her cushion over Australian Katherine Hull.
American Morgan Pressel equaled the course record with a 7-under 65 to move to 3 under for the tournament.
U.S. Senior Open: Fred Couples shot a 5-under 65 for a share of the U.S. Senior Open lead, feeding off a raucous hometown crowd in Sammamish, Wash., hoping the native son can win his first U.S. Golf Association championship.
Couples matched Bernhard Langer (68) at 5 under at tree-lined Sahalee Country Club, with Langer birdieing the final hole to pull even. They are the only players under par after three rounds.
Irish Open: Ross Fisher takes a 1-shot lead over Francesco Molinari into the final round of the Irish Open in Killarney, Ireland, after shooting an even-par 71. Fisher built a 5-shot lead after opening his third round with 4 birdies in his first seven holes. But after putting his approach shot into the water the par-4 eighth, Fisher made double bogey and dropped 2 more shots late in his round to finish at 12 under.