The American Express Round 3: Sepp Straka Pulls Away With a Bogey-Free 64

For two days, The American Express looked like a group project. On Saturday, Sepp Straka turned it into a solo act.

Straka shot an 8-under 64 at La Quinta Country Club to reach 23-under 193 and open a four-shot lead after three rounds at PGA West. Charley Hoffman, Jason Day and Justin Lower are tied for second at 19 under, Patrick Cantlay and Mark Hubbard sit at 18 under, and Justin Thomas is alone in seventh at 17 under. Everyone else is chasing from a distance.

Six on the Front

Straka did the damage early. The Austrian made six birdies on the front nine, the kind of burst that turns a crowded leaderboard into a hierarchy in about two hours. Two more birdies came on the back, and the scorecard finished without a single bogey for the third day in a row.

The last hole summed up the week. Straka missed the fairway on the closing hole, got a wedge onto the green and then poured in a 10-footer to save par and keep the card clean. Three rounds, three courses, zero bogeys: 65 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course Thursday, a 64 on the Pete Dye Stadium Course Friday and Saturday's 64 at La Quinta.

La Quinta, one of the two gentler courses in the rotation, was the last stop for Straka before Sunday, and it got treated like a scoring opportunity: take every birdie on offer, never let a loose swing turn into a bogey, and hand the rest of the field a much bigger number to chase than the one they woke up with.

Hoffman Survives the Stadium

The co-leaders after 36 holes had one big problem coming into Saturday: they both still had to play the Stadium Course. Charley Hoffman handled it about as well as anyone could have, shooting a bogey-free 69 on the hardest of the three rotation courses.

"Obviously, a clean card on the Stadium Course is something to be proud of," Hoffman said, per the AP.

It is. But a 69 on the Stadium while Straka was going 64 at La Quinta meant Hoffman fell from a share of the lead to four back. That is the rotation at work: the draw giveth, and the draw taketh away.

Rico Hoey, the other 36-hole co-leader, had a rougher go. A 74 dropped Hoey into a tie for 17th at 14 under, nine shots off the pace.

Day and Lower Keep Pace

Jason Day, playing alongside Justin Thomas, made seven birdies against two bogeys for a 67 and moved into the share of second. The former PGA Championship winner sounded like someone enjoying the week.

"It's hard not to love this place," Day said of the desert, per the AP.

Lower, who opened with back-to-back eagles Thursday, took on the Stadium Saturday and shot 68. Lower made back-to-back birdies late but gave shots back with bogeys at 14 and 17, ending the day four behind.

Cantlay climbed with a 66 to reach 18 under, and Thomas posted 68 to sit six back. Max Greyserman and Daniel Berger both shot 65 to move to 16 under, with a big group at 15 under that includes Will Zalatoris, Billy Horschel, J.J. Spaun, Ben Griffin, Beau Hossler, Taylor Moore and Frankie Capan III, who matched Straka's 64.

The Cut Claims Big Names

The American Express makes its cut after 54 holes, and the line landed at 9 under. That sent home a surprising list, including Tony Finau, Tom Kim, Sungjae Im, Brian Harman and Cameron Young. In a week where the two easier courses gave up numbers in bunches, falling behind on any of the three days was enough to end the trip.

The Stadium Waits

Here is the twist for Sunday: everyone left plays the Stadium Course, the restored Pete Dye layout with firm greens and water that pushes right up against several of them. Straka already shot 64 there Friday, but the leader is not treating that like a guarantee.

"I think (the Stadium Course) is the type of course where no lead is safe," Straka said, per the AP. Straka added that the goal is "a good solid ball-striking round."

Straka has won twice on the PGA TOUR, at the 2022 Honda Classic and the 2023 John Deere Classic, and both came from behind. Sleeping on a 54-hole lead on TOUR is new territory. Four shots is a cushion, not a guarantee, on a course built to punish one bad swing, and Day, Hoffman and Lower all know exactly what a hot Sunday on the Stadium can look like.

Catch up on the first two days in our Round 1 recap and Round 2 recap. 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 details.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 3 recap and leaderboard), AP, Golf Today. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.