Reed Running Away with Humana Challenge


Patrick Reed is in a commanding position to win the Humana Challenge and his second PGA Tour title, firing a third straight 9-under-par 63 on a third different course to reach a ridiculous 27-under 189. The 23-year-old Texan enjoys a seven-stroke lead over Charley Hoffman and Brendon Todd in the $5.7 million PGA Tour event in La Quinta, Calif.

After carding 63s at the Palmer Private course at PGA West on Thursday and the same number at La Quinta Country Club Friday, Reed posted eight birdies, an eagle and a bogey Saturday at Nicklaus en route to establishing a new PGA Tour record in relation to par over 54 holes.

Through three rounds, he's carded 25 birdies, two eagles and only a pair of bogeys in the annual shootout in California's Coachella Valley. Through 54 holes he's already two strokes under the Humana Challenge's all-time 72-hole mark set last year by winner Brian Gay.

"It kind of seemed like deja vu all over again," Reed told PGAtour.com. "When I played today, I felt just as confident as I did the last two days and the putter is still working.

"I'm just going to treat tomorrow as if it's a Monday qualifier, 18-hole shootout, everybody's tied at even-par and hopefully I can go out and do the same thing I've done in the past three days.

"The putter is hot," added Reed. "When the putter is hot, you are going to go low. When you have that type of confidence in your putter, it doesn't matter where on the green it is, I feel like it is going in the hole."

If Reed can shoot 65 or better Sunday, he'll match the Tour's all-time 72-hole scoring mark of 254 set by Tommy Armour III in the 2003 Valero Texas Open. The record under-par mark for 72 holes of 33-under - set by Steve Stricker in the 2009 Bob Hope Classic (now the Humana Challenge) - is also well within reach.

The closest players chasing Reed are Hoffman and Todd, who carded 66 (Palmer) and 68 (La Quinta CC), respectively. Eight behind is James Driscoll (66 at Nicklaus), while nine back are Bill Haas (67 Palmer) and Justin Leonard (65 La Quinta).

The cut of 9-under 207 was made after Saturday's third round, with the low-70 players and ties moving on to the final round at Palmer Private.

Even though he carded a 69 (at Palmer), Gay missed qualifying for Sunday by two shots.

The event, which switched to 72 holes in 2012, was traditionally a five-round tournament since its inception in 1960 as the Palm Springs Desert Golf Classic and later, the Bob Hope Classic. Humana took over its sponsorship two years ago.

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