Harry Hall posted a third-round 2-over 72, but he still holds a share of the 54-hole lead at the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge.
The Englishman made back-to-back double bogeys on Nos. 6 and 7 and it looked like he was going to nosedive down the leaderboard. However, he bounced back nicely once he made the turn, making birdies on Nos. 12 and 17 to sign for a 72.
Atop the board with Hall is Adam Schenk, who got around Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, with a 3-under 67 on Saturday. Schenk birdied his first two holes of the day before giving one back on No. 4, his lone bogey of the day. After making the turn with a 1-under 34, Schenk made birdie at the par-5 11th and closed out his day with another circle at the last.
Hall, who has two top-10 finishes this season, is looking for his first win on the PGA Tour. Schenk, who missed three straight cuts before this week, is also searching for his first victory.
If you missed any of Saturday’s action, no worries, we have you covered. Here’s everything you need to know from the third round of the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Colonial Country Club is preparing for a proper shave and Friday’s second round brought lots of hairiness.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Colonial Country Club is preparing for a proper shave, as work on an extensive renovation is set to begin as soon as the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge concludes this weekend.
So maybe it was only appropriate that Friday’s second round provided plenty of “hairiness” — as in Harry Hall and Harris English topping the leaderboard at the tournament’s midpoint.
The qualifier was first likened to an opposite-field event a couple years ago.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — To someone who didn’t know any better, the driving range at sunny McCormick Ranch Golf Club didn’t look any different Monday. Each hitting space was occupied with golfers slowly working their way through their buckets of Pinnacle practice balls.
A player in his 60s showed his friend his new driver head cover featuring Cartman from the animated TV show South Park. A younger golfer in his late 20s practiced in a black hoodie and camouflage joggers.
But this wasn’t any other Monday, as just feet away was Harrison Endycott, a PGA Tour pro from Australia. Fellow Aussie Aaron Baddeley was on the practice green with his two kids, hair as long as their dad’s.
Harry Hall, a 25-year-old Englishman who played at UNLV, had a Trackman stuffed in his Callaway Paradym tour bag on a brand new push cart.
Harry Hall practices at the range at McCormick Golf Club ahead of the 2023 WM Phoenix Open Monday qualifier. (Photo: Todd Kelly/Golfweek)
“I know I’ve got a PGA Tour schedule for the rest of the year and I’m a rookie and I’ve got tournaments I’ll definitely be in so this would be a perk,” Hall said. “I’m a Vegas boy so I like the desert, I enjoy the crowd and that’s why I’m here.”
Another Tour rookie, Ben Griffin, who’s 30th in FedEx Cup points, was at the qualifier because he doesn’t yet have enough status to already be in the Phoenix Open field.
But it’s not just rookies in the qualifier field. Grayson Murray, Martin Trainer, Kevin Chappell, DJ Trahan, Bo Van Pelt and Robert Garrigus were there, too.
Martin Trainer finished the final round at Pebble, THIS MORNING, he just made the turn at the Monday Q. Now that is grinding. pic.twitter.com/bt6wOwZPVh
In all, 96 golfers took to the Pine Course to vie for one of the final three spots in the 2023 WM Phoenix Open. The qualifier was first likened to an opposite-field event a couple years ago but this year in particular it makes sense that there’s so much interest as it’s the first full-field designated event and features a $20 million purse with a $3.6 million first-place prize.
Baddeley is a past champion at TPC Scottsdale with more than $25 million in career earnings. He has made six cuts in eight outings in 2023, including two top-10s but didn’t snag one of the five coveted sponsor invitations. As he put the finishing touches on his pre-round warm-up, a fan noticed him, told him good luck and added: “Maybe next time you won’t have to put up with this.”
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Baddeley, whose 12-year-old daughter took it upon herself to write a letter to the Thunderbirds, who run the Phoenix Open, asking them to offer her dad a spot. That plan fell through so a day after finishing tied for 37th at the weather-plagued AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Baddeley slept in his own bed at his Scottsdale home and drove to qualifier.
“I was disappointed not to get in for sure,” he said. “My game’s in a good spot, and being up there in the FedEx [60th], I thought I had a good chance, past champ. Already have two top-10s, the game is really good.”
The qualifier might have had even more golfers but the Monday finish at Pebble Beach altered a lot of plans.
There were 19 pros on the original entry list who withdrew from the qualifier, including Nick Hardy, the Phoenix Open’s first alternate.
At least two golfers who wanted to play the qualifier couldn’t. Eric Cole, T-15 at Pebble, and Sung Kang, T-29 at Pebble, scrambled from the Monterey Peninsula and landed at Scottsdale Airport about six miles north of McCormick Ranch about 30 minute before their 1:40 p.m. local tee time. But they were too late.
The Monday qualifier finished before dark and without a playoff, with Andre Metzger shooting a 65 to lead the way. Brett White and Dalton Ward each shot a 66, making those three the ones who advanced to 2023 WM Phoenix Open.
