Matteo Manassero and Ryan Fox both delivered stellar performances on Saturday, shooting 6-under 64s to share the third-round lead in the RBC Canadian Open. The annual event is held on the spectacular North Course at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. Both contestants have put themselves in excellent position as the tournament heads towards its final round.
Matteo Manassero is a 31-year-old Italian golfer who has already won eight times internationally. Now, he’s intent on his first victory coming at the expense of the PGA Tour. He recovered from a three-putt bogey on the par-4 17th hole. After a mediocre par-4 17th, he bounced back with a noble birdie on the par-5 18th. He followed it with a clutch third shot on the final hole. From 80 yards out, he used his wedge to put the ball within 2 feet of the hole for an easy put.
As it is now, Manassero is 14-under 196 for the week. Even though he’s had some ups and downs with his short game, Coyne likes to keep things upbeat.
“I missed the short one on 17, and I did miss a couple more short ones today.” – Matteo Manassero
Ryan Fox, a 38-year-old from New Zealand also equaled Manassero’s stellar mark. He capped off the day in style with a brilliant 6-under 64. Fox is coming off of his first PGA Tour win, a victory last month at the Myrtle Beach Classic where he holed a playoff birdie to seal the victory. Despite the unexpected nature of his win, he said he was pleased with how he played throughout the tournament.
“To be honest, everything went pretty right.” – Ryan Fox
Following Manassero and Fox is Mackenzie Hughes, who sits at 12-under and is tied with Jake Knapp and Andrew Putnam. Hughes had been swinging the bat well all tournament and talked about his approach at the plate.
“I’ve been putting the ball in play quite a bit, driving it pretty nice,” – Mackenzie Hughes
Hughes thinks his solid approach play has taken the pressure off his putter.
“I feel like that’s taken some pressure off the putter and the short game. It’s a big key around here. You start driving it well, you can attack and be aggressive.” – Mackenzie Hughes
Things are looking really close in the leaderboard! Lee Hodges, Kevin Yu and Matt McCarty are one back, at 10 under. With the final round fast approaching, anticipation is running high to see who will come out on top among this talented and hard-fighting field.
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