Na takes two-shot lead into final round at Colonial

LOS ANGELES, California: Kevin Na fired a one-under par 69 on Saturday to take a two-shot lead in the US PGA Tour Charles Schwab Challenge, where three-time major winner Jordan Spieth was among those in hot pursuit.

Na, in search of a fourth US PGA Tour title, started the day one off the lead of Sweden’s Jonas Blixt — who slid down the leaderboard with a four-over 74. Na seized the lead at 10-under par with back-to-back birdies at the first and second holes at Colonial Country Club.

An unlucky double-bogey at the par-five 11th cost him the lead, but he steadied himself with a birdie at 13 to finish with a nine-under par total of 201. That put him two strokes clear of Spieth, fellow Americans Jim Furyk and Tony Finau, Taiwan’s Pan Cheng-tsung and Canadian MacKenzie Hughes, who shared second on 203.

Spieth, seeking his first victory since the 2017 British Open, opened his round with back-to-back birdies — rolling in putts of 30 and 21 feet as his mastery of Colonial’s greens continued. He drained another long one for a birdie at seven, although that would prove to be his last birdie of the day.