The Jackson Country Club: Akshay Bhatia was unable to recreate the first round magic as added a second straight 72 to slip to T-50 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Bhatia, who earlier won on the PGA TOUR, was in Top-5 after his first round 66, but then added 72-72.China’s Carl Yuan knows the weight of a nation will be on his shoulders as he chases an historic PGA TOUR victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship.
A third round of 5-under 67 at The Jackson Country Club in Mississippi on Saturday kept the 26-year-old Yuan in solo second place behind overnight leader Ben Griffin, who carded a bogey-free 66 to lead by three strokes on 20-under.
Yuan’s compatriot, Marty Zecheng Dou, carded a 68 for a share of sixth pace on 16-under as he maintained his fight to retain his PGA TOUR card in the second of seven FedExCup Fall events while Chinese Taipei’s CT Pan shot a 69 for T18.
Like Dou, Yuan is battling to maintain his playing rights in the world’s leading circuit where he entered the week ranked 151st on the FedExCup standings but utmost on his mind is also trying to deliver China’s first ever PGA TOUR win.
In 29 previous starts on TOUR, Yuan has not finished in the top-10, with a best of T14 recorded at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in July.