3 storylines heading into the World Wide Technology Championship final round
Russell Henley is in control at Mayakoba.
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The seventh event of the fall portion of the PGA Tour’s schedule will come to a close Sunday with the final round of the 2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba.
Scoring has been at a fever pace through three rounds and shows no signs of slowing down as several up-and-comers and a couple of established pros chase down the lead.
There’s plenty of intrigue heading into the final round. Here are three storylines we’re watching at El Camaleon Golf Course.
Henley looks for fourth win
Russell Henley has blitzed the course through the first three rounds, making 22 birdies against no bogeys on his way to a six-shot 54-hole lead. He opened with back-to-back rounds of 63 — for the seventh time in the last three seasons a player shot 126 or better in the opening two rounds on the PGA Tour — and followed it Saturday with a six-under 65. Two of those previous hot starts were also Henley’s.
His 22-under mark through three rounds is one shy of the tournament record score in relation to par set last year by Viktor Hovland. Henley has one more round to play as he seeks his first win since the 2017 Houston Open.
According to stats guru Justin Ray, Henley is the 18th player to shoot 191 or less through three rounds on the PGA Tour — all of the previous 17 went on to win.
Scoring overall has been crazy low this week in Mexico as 34 players are at 10 under or better with one round to play.
Hovland chases three-peat
In his bid for a third-straight win at Mayakoba, Hovland turned in a five-under 66 on Saturday to jump up seven spots into a tie for seventh. Hovland hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since his win last year at this tournament and his three-peat bid looks to be on life support as he’s eight back of Henley.
“Overall, I’m playing really consistent, but missing way too many putts even though I did make some putts today,” Hovland said of his chances.
Stranger things have happened, but Hovland is likely playing for his second top-5 of the season after finishing tied for 5th in Japan at the Zozo Championship last month.
Higgs trying to play Houston
‘Spiral upwards’: Struggling pro explains mindset that helped him shoot 62
Fan favorite Harry Higgs shot the round of the day Friday with a 62 and followed it with a more pedestrian 69 on Saturday. Higgs lost his Tour card last season and was in the field this week on a sponsor’s exemption.
He is tied for 11th at 12 under through three rounds. A solid round Sunday could move him into the top 10 and earn him a spot next week at the Cadance Bank Houston Open.
Higgs has made three starts so far on the young season, missing the cuts on all three occasions, even despite an opening 64 last week in Bermuda. He is sure to better those finishes this weekend and has a chance for his first top-10 since last year’s CJ Cup @ Summit.
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