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Will MacKenzie’s hole-in-one helps earn share of lead at McGladrey

Will MacKenzie waves to the gallery after finishing the 16th hole on Saturday during the third round of the McGladrey Classic.
(Sam Greenwood / Getty Images)
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Will MacKenzie made a hole-in-one that hardly anyone saw and finished with a 45-foot birdie putt that gave him a five-under-par 65 on Saturday and a share of the lead with Andrew Svoboda going into the final round of the McGladrey Classic.

Svoboda, playing in the same group with MacKenzie, rallied from a careless double bogey with three birdies over his last six holes for a 66.

The leaders were at 12-under 198, though the final round at Sea Island had all the trappings of a shootout.

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Russell Henley, the 36-hole leader, was one shot behind after another solid day except for one shot. He pulled his approach into the water on the par-five 15th hole and made bogey on the easiest hole on the Seaside course. Henley had a 68.

Stewart Cink, winless since beating Tom Watson in a playoff at Turnberry five years ago, made eight birdies in his round of 63. Defending champion Chris Kirk is progressively getting better with rounds of 68-67-66. They were part of a large group at 201, just three shots behind.

Nine players were within four shots of the lead.

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American Jessica Korda rebounded from an opening double bogey for a share of the lead in the Blue Bay LPGA.

Korda made seven birdies in a 14-hole stretch — the last three on Nos. 14-16 — and shot a five-under 67 to match South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace at 11-under 133. Pace had a 66.

Rain washed out play Friday and forced officials to cut the event from 72 to 54 holes.

Korda, the first-round leader Thursday after a 66, has two LPGA Tour victories this year. Pace, winless on the LPGA Tour, is coming off a playoff victory last week in the South African Women’s Open.

South Korea’s Chella Choi was 10 under after a 66.

Americans Michelle Wie and Brittany Lang and China’s Shanshan Feng were nine under.

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Marco Dawson birdied four of the first six holes and shot a five-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead in the Champions Tour’s AT&T Championship, and Bernhard Langer moved closer to wrapping up the Charles Schwab Cup before the season-ending event next week.

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Dawson also birdied two of the last four holes to reach 12-under 132 on TPC San Antonio’s AT&T Canyons Course. He won his only title in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event in 2002 in the Web.com Tour’s LaSalle Bank Open.

Woody Austin was second after a 65, and Wes Short Jr. was 10 under after a 67.

Langer, a five-time winner this season, was tied for eighth at seven under after a 66. He has a 771-point lead over second-place Colin Montgomerie in the Schwab Cup and can take the title with an 833-point advantage.

Montgomerie was tied for 49th at even par after a 76.

The top 30 on the money list after the tournament will advance to the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship next week in Scottsdale, Arizona.

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Thorbjorn Olesen’s bunker shots and putting helped him grind out a 5-under 67 Saturday to lead the Perth International golf tournament by three strokes after the third round.

Olesen of Norway had six birdies and a bogey to reach 16-under after three rounds, matching the score that won the inaugural tournament two years ago. He leads from South Korea’s Sihwan Kim, who shot 69 to move to 13 under, a stroke ahead of England’s James Morrison, who also had 69 after Friday’s course-record 63.

American Peter Uihlein was the big mover Saturday, making seven birdies in an unblemished 65 to move up to outright fourth at 11-under. Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa (70) is seven shots off the pace entering Sunday’s final round.

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