Russell Henley hits his tee shot on the 13th hole at Shadow Creek Golf Course on Saturday.
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Eleven months and one day ago, Russell Henley called the obscure one-ball rule on himself. He had shot a 69 during the second round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic, only to realize after his round that he had played two types of the same ball. He was assessed eight penalty strokes, his 69 turned into a 77, and he missed the cut. Eleven months and one day leads, he leads. Karma. Here are three things you need to know after the third round of the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas.
Russell Henley leads
Henley was as flawless Saturday as he was honest last November.
He birdied the 4th, 7th and 10th through 12th holes and made no bogies on his way to a 5-under 67, a 15-under total and a three-stroke lead over Xander Schauffele, Jason Kokrak, Lanto Griffin and Talor Gooch. Henley started the day four shots back, and he ended it three shots ahead.
“I putted really well. Left myself in some good spots to make some birdies and had some really nice par saves and scrambled well,” Henley said. “Did a lot of good things.”
Four players are tied for second
Kokrak, Griffin and Gooch rose up the leaderboard. Griffin shot a 6-under 66, with a bogey on the par-5 18 after hitting his drive into the water; Kokrak shot a 4-under 68; and Gooch a 3-under 69.
Schauffele fell down the leaderboard. He started the day with a three-stroke lead, but bogeyed four holes and shot a 2-over 74.
Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.