Golf

Mark Hubbard holds one-shot lead at Sanderson Farms

Mackenzie Hughes of Canada hot on his heels after round of 68

Mark Hubbard leads heading into the final round of the Sanderson Farms Championship. Photograph: Raj Mehta/Getty Images
Mark Hubbard leads heading into the final round of the Sanderson Farms Championship. Photograph: Raj Mehta/Getty Images
Sun Oct 02 2022 - 11:00

Mark Hubbard birdied five straight holes on the back nine to shoot 65 and take a one-shot lead at the Sanderson Farms Championship on Saturday in Jackson, Mississippi.

Hubbard sits at 15-under for the tournament, one shot ahead of 36-hole co-leader Mackenzie Hughes of Canada, who fired a 68.

Sepp Straka (third-round 69), Garrick Higgo (68) and Scott Stallings (68) are all three shots off the lead in a tie for third. Nick Hardy (68) and Keegan Bradley (64) are tied for sixth at 11 under, four shots back. Bradley recorded the low round of the day to vault 40 spots on moving day.

Hubbard had just one birdie on his card until he rattled off five straight on holes 11-15. He birdied 18 for good measure, turning in a bogey-free round. He’s in search of his first PGA Tour victory.

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"I hit my irons great again. I feel like I actually did a better job with that today in terms of just leaving myself more makeable putts," Hubbard said. "I've been hitting it close all week, but a lot of them have been kind of in tough spots, downhill, down grain. That little stretch I went on, pretty much every putt was just dead straight up the hill, so that was really nice."

[ Richard Mansell extends lead to four shots at Alfred Dunhill Links Championship ]

Hughes posted six birdies against two bogeys as he shoots for his second win on tour. He answered a bogey on 17 with a birdie to end his round.

“That was huge,” Hughes said. “I felt like I let one get away on 17, made a bad swing, kind of had a little distraction there on the tee, so that was unfortunate. But I knew coming up 18 that that was going to be a big hole for me for tomorrow, and making a three there was huge. It keeps me within striking distance of Mark, and he’s been playing great, so it’ll be a tough battle tomorrow.”

Bradley followed his second-round 71 on Friday with a FaceTime session with his coach to straighten out some things. It worked. Bradley posted eight birdies, including five straight on 10-14.

“Today I hit more fairways,” Bradley said. “I was just saying, if you hit the fairway on this course, every hole you can score on. But the rough is so brutal that you cannot if you don’t. Today was a better day for hitting fairways for me.”