Ben James fired a 6-under-par 66 on Saturday to take a four-shot lead into the final round of the World Wide Technology Championship in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Ryan Gerard carded a bogey-free 65 to climb into second place at 17 under. Chris Kirk (65) and Denny McCarthy (67) are another shot back.
Paul Peterson (66), Keith Mitchell (67), Mexico’s Alvaro Ortiz (66) and Japan’s Kensei Hirata (67) share fifth place at 15-under 201.
James, a 23-year-old rookie seeking his first PGA Tour victory, birdied his first three holes of the third round at El Cardonal at Diamante to set the tone for the day. James, who held a one-shot lead through two rounds, carded seven birdies and one bogey to reach 21-under 195 for the tournament.
“It was a really different day,” James said. “The wind was really whipping out there. I almost feel like I played better today than the first two rounds even though my score didn’t show it. … Where to leave the ball was super important today. I left myself a lot of pitch shots into the wind, which is always important playing in the wind.
“Definitely had my fair share of difficulty out there controlling my spin with some wedges with some of those crosswinds. But again, left the ball into the wind and made some nice up-and-downs. Really managed myself well and had a nice start.”
Asked about his approach while contending for a victory, James said, “It’s just golf at the end of the day. Like, par’s still a good score. Like, we’re trying to hit the fairway, like nothing changes. Like, the game plan doesn’t change, like try and hit the fairway, leave the ball below the hole 15 feet and try to have our day putting. But nothing changes with that, just try to keep it really as simple as possible and just enjoy the moment.”
Gerard, 27, is seeking his second PGA Tour victory, having won the 2025 Barracuda Championship. He posted his lowest score of the tournament Saturday.
“Didn’t really make too many bad swings, just kind of kept leaving myself in positions where if I missed on the short side or whatever, I had an opportunity to get up and down, whether that be because I had green to work with or a slope into the wind to kind of hold it,” Gerard said. “Did a really good job of that.
“But besides just keeping it where I wanted it to and staying positive, you know, just a grind of a day and played all right. You know, feel like we need to play better tomorrow.”
Michael Kim carded 10 birdies — five on the front nine and five on the back nine — against one bogey at the par-4 fifth hole to post the day’s low round, a 63. He climbed 53 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for ninth place at 14-under 202.
–Field Level Media
