Colorado bear figure, on July 2, 2022 - glory international tour advantage high game (" constellation ") before the end of the third round, the Chinese player DouZeCheng TPC Colorado on Saturday played 68-4, grade is lower than 12 pars, together with the other two American players, is in the lead position, Another solid step toward his goal of returning to the PGA Tour next season.
Yuan Yee-chun, who has secured his PGA Tour card for next season, shot his lowest round of the week so far -- a -8 64 -- to finish tied for fourth, one shot behind Dou. Zhang Xinjun shot 74 on Saturday and fell to a tie for 44th.
"I saw a lot of -5, -6 on the front nine before I teed off today, and I knew there would be a lot of birdie opportunities today." "I basically took my chances on every easy hole," Dou said. All four of his birdies of the day came on the front nine. On the first Par 5, he two-putted into the ring of the green and two-putted for birdie. On the 323-yard third hole of the Par 4, Dou hit his tee shot straight onto the green -- not inconceivable given this is the Colorado Plateau -- for another birdie on one of the least difficult holes of the tournament. His other two birdies came on the fifth and eighth holes.
Dou Zecheng was not happy with his performance over the next nine holes. While his entire scorecard on Saturday was bogey-free, he failed to make any birdies on the back nine. "The irons on the back nine were good, but the two or three yard putts were really bad," he said. "Go work on it later, consolidate it and hopefully putt better tomorrow."
How well you push it makes all the difference. Dou Zecheng is tied for 19th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list. A solitary third, (at most) four-way tie for second or better this week would secure his return to the PGA Tour for next season by Sunday afternoon. After switching careers in 2014, Dou won four PGA Tour Series events in China in 2016, earning himself the 2017 Korn Ferry Tour qualification -- a springboard that allowed him and Zhang Xinjun to become the first players from the Chinese mainland in history to earn PGA Tour membership cards in 2018.
"The PGA Tour card, I definitely think about it (Sunday's round) because it's the last five tournaments," Dou said. "I hope you don't think too much about it, because maybe the more you think about it, the less you can do it." This is not the first time Dou has tasted a 54-hole lead on the Korn Ferry Tour. He has done it three times before, two of which brought him two titles and the other was an extended tournament defeat earlier this season. Before this week, Dou had made the cut in 12 of his 16 tournaments on the Illume Tour, with three top-10 finishes, the highlight of which was a runner-up finish after his defeat in the Extended Grand Abaco Classic in the Bahamas.
"I just hope I can play like I did today," Dou said of his expectations for Sunday. "If I play like this, it should be easy to win."
Yee-chun Yuan, who has secured his PGA Tour card, shot a match-best 64 on Saturday to move to the top of the crowded leaderboard, with 11 players within three shots of each other. "I was really good today, my irons and tee shots were very solid," Yuan said. "I didn't play very well the first two days, but after yesterday I practiced for a few hours and got some feeling." He is the first player this season on Korn Ferry to secure PGA Tour membership for next season.
Tied for the lead with Dou are two American players and 36-hole co-leaders: Ryan McCormick and Dawson Armstrong. McCormick, who switched professions in 2014 and has spent time in Asia, Canada and Latin America, also has three top-10 finishes this season; Armstrong, from Tennessee, only turned pro in 2018 and earned a spot on the Korn/Ferry Tour with his first win on the PGA Tour in Canada in 2019.
