Dawie van der Walt was coming off two consecutive bogeys on Saturday when he chipped in for birdie on the 18th in the third round of the PGA Tour’s Fortinet Championship in Napa, California to keep himself in contention.
He carded a third-round four-under-par 68 to move to 10-under-par for the tournament in his return to PGA Tour action after regaining his playing privileges through the Korn Ferry Tour play-offs. That put him in a share of ninth, five shots off the lead which was shared by Americans Maverick McNealy and Jim Knous. At 14-under, they lead by two from five players.
Van der Walt had a solid opening nine, with three birdies and no dropped shots as he turned in 33. He got his round to five-under with birdies on 14 and 15, but bogeys on 16 and 17 cost him. After a wild drive on the par-five 16th, he took three more shots to get to the green and raced his par putt three feet past the hole. On the par-four 17th, he left his approach way short of the green, and took three strokes to get down from there.
Amongst those with whom Van der Walt is sharing ninth were Phil Mickelson and PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, Will Zalatoris.
