Sanderson Farms Championship Round 3: Garrick Higgo Takes a Two-Shot Lead Into Sunday

Garrick Higgo has a two-shot lead and a plan for Sunday: play like he is the one chasing. Given what happened behind him on Saturday, that may not be a pose.

Higgo shot a 5-under 67 at The Country Club of Jackson to reach 18-under 198 and take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Sanderson Farms Championship. Steven Fisk (65) and Danny Walker (67) are tied for second at 16 under. Taylor Montgomery (69) is alone in fourth at 15 under, and Matt Kuchar (65), Frankie Capan III (68) and Vince Whaley (68) share fifth at 14 under.

A Good Fight

Higgo's Saturday was not the free-flowing birdie show of the first two days. It was a grind with a good number at the end of it. He opened with birdies at Nos. 1 and 2, added another at 9, then got to work on the back nine with birdies at 11, 14 and 15. Higgo cashed in at the par-5 14th and the short par-4 15th before parring the final two holes. His only blemish was a bogey on one of the front-nine par 5s.

"I'd say it was quite a good fight," Higgo said. He added that golf rarely goes your way and that nothing about this lead came easy.

Higgo already owns a two-year exemption from his win at the Corales Puntacana Championship in April, so this weekend is about trophies, not cards. And Higgo is not planning to sit on the lead. "I'm going to play as if I'm behind tomorrow and be as aggressive as I can be and make as many birdies as I can," he said.

The 26-year-old South African has been here recently, too. Last month at the Procore Championship, Higgo tied for seventh after a Sunday pairing with Scottie Scheffler.

Walker's Wild Ride

If you only saw Walker's final number, you missed the best scorecard of the day. Walker's front nine was a rollercoaster: birdie at 3, bogey at 4, a 28-foot eagle putt at the par-5 fifth, then bogeys at 7 and 9 for an even-par 36. Another bogey at the par-3 10th made it look like the weekend was slipping away.

Then Walker caught fire. A birdie at 11 started it, and Walker closed with five straight birdies from 14 through 18, including long putts at 16, 17 and 18. Back-nine 31, round of 67, and a share of second place.

Remember, Walker came to Mississippi at No. 104 in the FedExCup with eight straight missed cuts. Now Walker is 18 holes from changing the entire picture. Walker sounded realistic about the leader. "It's hard to say with what Garrick does. He could run away. Nothing I can do about that," Walker said, adding that the plan is simply to keep playing the way the last three days have gone.

The Rookie Lurks

Fisk did it the quiet way. The 28-year-old PGA TOUR rookie posted a bogey-free 65, his second straight 65, with birdies at 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 15 and 17. Fisk's best finish in 22 starts this season is a tie for fourth at the Puerto Rico Open, and Fisk arrived in Jackson at No. 135 in the FedExCup, well outside the top 100 that keeps full status.

The key, by Fisk's own account, was simple. "Just really in control of the driver and hit a bunch of fairways," Fisk said. On a course where the Bermuda rough punishes misses, that is not a small thing.

The Bubble Gets Interesting

Montgomery cooled off from Friday's 63 but still sits fourth with a 69. At No. 147 in the standings, Montgomery needs a big Sunday more than almost anyone near the top.

Kuchar, 47, keeps showing up. After acing the fourth hole on Thursday, Kuchar made eight birdies on Saturday and is 14 under at No. 115 in the FedExCup. Capan (No. 157) and Whaley (No. 102) are right there with Kuchar.

Max Homa made a big jump with a 64 that moved Homa into a tie for eighth at 13 under alongside Tom Kim and Eric Cole. Rasmus Højgaard is still quietly climbing, too, with a 66 to reach 12 under.

Sunday in Jackson

Higgo leads by two and says he will attack anyway. Walker has five straight birdies of momentum. Fisk has back-to-back 65s. And behind them sits a pack of players for whom one round could decide a season. Higgo has the cushion, but in a field this hungry, nobody is safe.

Catch up on the week in our Round 1 recap and Round 2 recap, and read our recap of the final round. Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 3 recap (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 3 recap, leaderboard and highlights), AP, Field Level Media, Golf Channel. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.