Kang Sung-hoon three in front at Houston Open after Rickie Fowler’s putting lets him down
American hands South Korean a three-stroke lead after the third round in Texas
Rickie Fowler four-putted the final green to hand Kang Sung-hoon a three-stroke lead after the third round at the Houston Open in Texas on Saturday.
Fowler overcame a seven-stroke deficit to reel in South Korean Kang, only to stumble at the end with a bogey at the 17th and a double-bogey at the par-four 18th.
Those mistakes allowed Kang to use a 71 in a testing breeze at the Golf Club of Houston to finish the day on 17-under-par 199 with one round left as he targets a last-minute berth at the US Masters.
Fowler (67) was on 14-under, with fellow American Russell Henley (69) another shot back.
Kang needs to win on Sunday to qualify for next week’s Masters, the first major of the year, and if he does he might like to thank Fowler’s putter.
“I’ll just stick to my game plan,” Kang told PGATour.com, aware of the Sunday forecast for strong storms that could make for a long day.