As a dog chasing its tail, the suspension of the last matches of the first round due to lack of light and, above all, the four-hour delay due to strong winds at the start of the second day of competition has dragged on throughout the weekend at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas, which will experience another ‘endless’ day this Sunday, like the ‘moving day’, to try to crown the new champion of the tournament.
Saturday began by completing the numerous matches that had been left unfinished the day before due to lack of light. A stretch that J.T. Poston and Matti Schmid took advantage of to climb to the top of the leaderboard, with rounds of 65 strokes each, taking advantage of the fact that Canadian Taylor Pendrith, leader after the first round, abruptly stopped his birdie production. And from there, the third round began, which, of course, could not be completed either, with matches still having to play up to five holes, from 11.00 local time, before facing the last 18.
An eagle on No. 9 to take the solo lead.@JT_ThePostman takes the lead alone as he makes the turn @ShrinersOpen. pic.twitter.com/1sWVbet4rT
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 19, 2024
The cut was set at three under par, leaving out, among others, the defending champion, Tom Kim (-1), who returned to the circuit after his ‘short circuit’ in the first event of the FedEx Cup playoffs in August and will not be able to match the three consecutive victories in the same tournament of Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic, between 2009 and 2011. And from there, several complete matches were played, leaving most of the favourites’ matches unfinished to succeed the South Korean in the record.
When the siren sounded and play was interrupted, again due to lack of light, Americans Doug Ghim (-15), who was playing the 17th hole, and J.T. Poston (-15), playing the 14th, shared the lead in the standings with a one-stroke advantage over Kurt Kitayama (-14) and Gary Woodland (-14), who had been able to complete their third round, Harris English (-14), playing the 15th hole, and Argentine Alejandro Tosti (-14), also with three flags still ahead that he will have to complete today before heading to the final round.
The two best missed putts you'll see today 👏
Golf claps for @Harris_English's lag putting skills. pic.twitter.com/ZguafdZrM1
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 20, 2024
No fewer than 18 players are within a three-stroke margin at the top of the table, so a Sunday full of excitement and alternatives is expected in the event that ends the PGA Tour‘s stay in the United States for the next three weeks. Next week, with the ZOZO Championship in Japan, a mini-tour will begin that will also pass through Mexico and Bermuda, before returning to the last regular event of the FedEx Fall that will determine each player’s status regarding playing rights for 2025.
