Englishman Todd Clements maintained his two-stroke lead Saturday with a 5-under-par 67 in the third round of the Corales Puntacana Championship in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Clements reached 18-under 198 at Puntacana Resort and Club, matching the third-round score of Ben James to keep the same advantage he carried into the day. He opened with three consecutive rounds in the 60s after beginning the tournament with a 65 and following with a 66.
The 29-year-old is seeking his first victory on the PGA Tour at the alternate event being played opposite the Open Championship.
“Look, you don’t turn up to any tournament not trying to win,” Clements said after the round. “Did I think it would be this week 1/2 Not sure, but here we are.”
His 54-hole total set a tournament record, bettering the 199 posted by Adam Long in 2021, Wesley Bryan in 2024, and Joel Dahmen last year. None of those three turned the record-setting pace into a victory.
James remains Clements’ closest challenger at 16-under 200. The 23-year-old also shot 67 for his third straight round in the 60s and will join Clements in the final pairing Sunday.
“I’m playing some good golf and I’m really excited for tomorrow,” James said. “We’ll try to keep it going. Very excited for hopefully a good day.”
Max McGreevy made the largest move near the top of the leaderboard, matching the low round of the day with a 7-under 65. He is tied for third at 14 under with Italian Stefano Mazzoli (66) and Gordon Sargent (69). McGreevy was 3 under through his first nine holes, but it was his eagle on the 12th hole that spurred his round.
“Nothing amazing at the start, just a couple solid birdies. I think I just kind of settled in and kept giving myself a bunch of chances,” McGreevy said. “Got pretty lucky, made a nice chip on 12 to make eagle there. I think that kind of booted me into trying to finish as well as I could and see if I could chase these guys. They just kept making birdies, so I was just hoping to just keep climbing up the leaderboard.”
Aaron Wise and South African Dylan Frittelli also posted 66s. Wise climbed into a five-player tie for sixth at 13 under alongside Blades Brown, German Marcel Schneider, Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen and Joe Highsmith.
Johannes Veerman began the round tied for second but fell eight shots off the lead after a 73 left him at 10 under.
Clements normally competes on the DP World Tour, where his lone title came at the 2023 Czech Masters after he closed with a 63 to beat fellow Englishman Matt Wallace by one stroke.
A victory Sunday would also give Clements PGA Tour status through the 2027 season, along with 300 FedEx Cup points and the $720,000 winner’s share.
“There’s a lot of golf left to go. I had my fair share of luck a little bit out there this week and that needs to continue for that to happen,” Clements said. “But I think we just kind of lean on my past experiences and see where it takes me.”
–Field Level Media
