AT&T Byron Nelson: China’s Dou shares PGA Tour lead for first time, tied at top with Palmer, Eckroat
- Marty Dou Zecheng fires 7-under 64 at TPC Craig Ranch to move to 16 under overall
- The Dallas resident has not finished higher than a tie for 17th in 45 previous starts on the Tour
Marty Dou Zecheng takes a share of the lead into the final round AT&T Byron Nelson on Sunday, and said he was no more nervous than if he was playing on the Korn Ferry Tour.
The Chinese golfer is at the top of a PGA Tour leader board after 54 holes for the first time in his career, having shot a seven-under-par 64 to sit at 16 under alongside Austin Eckroat and Ryan Palmer.
There is plenty of work for the leading trio left to do, with world No 2 Scottie Scheffler among a group of four players two strokes further back.
Despite having won several times on the lower-tier circuit, Dou has never come close to winning on the PGA Tour in 45 starts, with his previous best a tie for 17th at last year’s Bermuda Championship.
“I think nerves is the same thing as me playing on the Korn Ferry Tour,” he said. “Everybody gets in the lead and you get into it and you’re going to be nervous no matter what.
“It’s like I won’t be more nervous just because this is the PGA Tour. I think it’s the same thing. Trying to get adjusted the same way as I did on the Korn Ferry, and hopefully I can do good out of that.”
Living just minutes from the TPC Craig Ranch course in Dallas has certainly helped Dou this week, and he said “knowing where the mistakes” are off the tee had given him confidence.
On a windy afternoon in north Texas, Dou got things going with a 19-foot birdie at the second and added a 15-footer at the fifth, then blasted out of a bunker to three feet for birdie at the sixth.
He drained a 20-foot birdie at the 13th, and got up and down for birdie at 14 and again at 16 – where he was in a cart path off the tee but gave himself a 28-foot birdie chance and made it.
Dou kept things going with a chip to one foot to save par at the par-three 17th.
Along the way, he said, he tried not to pay too much attention to the leader board.
“I know I’m playing pretty good. I don’t want to have to know who’s in the lead, how much back I am to get in my head, and mess up shots,” said Dou, who has missed eight cuts in 17 starts this season.
Eckroat, a 24-year-old from Oklahoma, also expected to be feeling some nerves on Sunday.
“You put yourself in this position and you kind of feel like a win is the only way that it’s a successful week,” he said. “But I’ll just go out tomorrow and try to play the best I can and see what happens.”
When he walked off the 18th green, Eckroat had high expectations of playing in the final group on Sunday alongside Scheffler.
But former Masters champion Scheffler, who held the overnight lead, struggled on the greens and after two bogeys and three birdies was one off the lead through 17 holes.
At 18, he was in a fairway bunker off the tee and failed to get the ball out with his second shot on the way to a bogey for an even par 71.
