SA’s Higgo ties course record to take lead in Mexico

South Africa's Garrick Higgo matched the El Cardonal at Diamante course record with an 11-under 61 to take a one-stroke lead after the third round at the World Wide Technology Championship on Saturday in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

"Hit it great, made a lot of good putts and chipped in once," Higgo said following the round. "Just everything was really solid and took advantage of opportunities that I had."

Higgo chipped in for an eagle on the par-5 first hole, then sank five straight birdies to record an impressive front-nine 7-under-par 29. He added four more birdies on the back nine, including the par-5 18th, to close out the round as he aims for his second victory of the season.

"I hit it well," Higgo added. "Kind of played similar to the way I played yesterday morning. I think I shot 29 to begin, as well. I tried to make a point of it today to finish well."

Higgo bagged his second PGA TOUR win in April at the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic, an opposite-field event to the RBC Heritage. He missed the cut at the Wyndham Championship in August, but the former UNLV standout has been sizzling since with three straight top-seven finishes.

Carson Young sits second at 21-under after a 9-under-par 63 that featured 11 birdies and two bogeys.

"Did everything pretty good today," Young said. "Obviously nine under you have to do everything pretty well. Holed some nice long putts today, kind of kept some momentum going."

Young is within striking distance of earning his first career PGA Tour victory, and hopes to build off his second-place finish at the same event last year.

"Just keep doing what I'm doing and just focus on playing my game and not looking at the leaderboard too much or worrying about others," Young said.

"I'm excited about it because last year I finished second here and missed out by one (on) a playoff. Kind of feels like revenge here to be in the final group again. I'm excited to see if I can break through."

Ben Griffin, Trevor Cone and Chad Ramey are tied for third, two back at 20 under.

The stakes are high with only two tournaments remaining in the season following the World Wide Technology Championship, with the top 100 players on tour – down from 125 previously – retaining their PGA Tour cards for the next season.