His lone top-10 of the season was a tie for eighth at the Zurich Classic …
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Scott Piercy and Ricky Barnes shared the third-round lead at 13 under at the inaugural event, being held opposite the British Open. Piercy played aggressive golf all day, giving him a score of 65 for the second consecutive day. Fighting back pain, she opened with rounds of 66 and 67 and has only two bogeys in the first 54 holes.
Scott Piercy’s surgically repaired elbow and his game seem to be in fine shape. “I mean, I flushed it, I struck the ball so well, and so I would say I’m kind of where we imagined I would be”.
Piercy, whose first two PGA victories came at the 2011 Barracuda Championship and the 2012 Canadian Open, could afford the luxury of another three-putt bogey at the 17th before he comfortably parred the last to close out the win. Wilcox finished 16 under par, two strokes ahead of the third place.
In 2007, the long-hitting Piercy hit the jackpot with a US$2 million payday when he birdied five of the last six holes to triumph at the made-for-television, winner-take-all Ultimate Game tournament in his hometown of Las Vegas.
Overnight leaders Kim Meen-whee of South Korea and Australian Mark Hensby carded 68s in the third round to slip back into a tie for third at 12 under with Americans Jason Gore (63) and Will Wilcox (65), and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (67).
“I’ve always wanted to be on the Tour”, Shelton said.
“It was unbelievable. I played well, that’s all I could ask for”. He was playing on a sponsor’s exemption, and has been relying on Monday qualifying of late.
The 23-year-old from Seoul, whose self-taught swing was borrowed from watching video footage of former world number one Tiger Woods, fired a five-under-par 66 on the Grand National layout at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.
Shelton’s finish was the lowest for an amateur on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson won the 1991 Northern Telecom Open.
Shelton is the 18th amateur since 1940 to finish in the top three. Barber tied for tenth place after scoring -12. The Auburn alumnus started round four strong, squarely in the thick of the action. “I think that’s probably a bigger advantage is that I’ve gotten it done a couple of times”.
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The round was delayed 1 hour, 20 minutes because of rain and lightning before the leaders teed off.
