Australian Richard Green carded a third round of 3-under 68 to remain in contention for a PGA Tour Champions card on Friday (AEDT), lying one stroke off the lead in tied second place.
Fran Quinn shot 4-under 67 to hold a one-stroke advantage entering the final day of the PGA Tour Champions Qualifying Tournament (Final Stage) at TPC Scottsdale.
Quinn, who plays out of Holden, Massachusetts, sits at 13-under, while Green, Wes Short Jr, Jesus Rivas and Simon Griffiths are tied for second at 12-under after 54 holes.
“I didn’t play as well today as I did yesterday, but I really played solid coming in,” Quinn said.
“That was really positive. I had a couple of putts that I missed early, but overall, I think I’m very, very happy with it. I just have to go out and do my deal. I can worry about myself. If I do what I can do, I’ll be just fine.”
Quinn made four PGA Tour Champions starts in 2022, highlighted by a T21 at the American Family Insurance Championship. The Massachusetts native made headlines this summer by qualifying for his home-state US Open at The Country Club, becoming the oldest on record to gain US Open access via both Local and Final Qualifying.
Short, a former Q-school winner, carded a clean round with six birdies at 6-under 65 to move from T7 to T2 on the leaderboard.
“I played really well today,” Short said. “I kept it in play, and I made some putts. That’s the key to this game – you have to make putts and keep it in play. There are only five spots available so you want to get as many under as you can. I was three off the number today, so I knew I had to have a good one to stay within shouting distance.”
Green traded one birdie against a lone bogey on his outward nine before putting himself within reach of the lead with birdies on holes 11, 13 and 16.
At the end of four rounds, the top-5 finishers will be fully exempt into all open, full-field events for PGA Tour Champions in the 2023 season. In addition, players finishing sixth through 30th will be eligible to apply for PGA Tour Champions Associate Membership for the 2023 season, which will afford them the opportunity to enter 2023 PGA Tour Champions weekly event qualifiers.
