Allenby in form at US PGA Tour opener

P – Robert Allenby is poised to begin the new US PGA Tour season with a good result after shooting a six-under-par 66 in the third round of the Frys.com Open.

South Korea’s Bae Sang-Moon will be hard to catch after shooting a 65 to take a four-shot lead from American Zach Balir (69) in California.

Australian veteran Allenby is aiming to put some lean years behind him and he pushed up into equal 11th on the leaderboard at nine under, seven shots behind Bae, with a round including five birdies and an eagle.

The 42-year-old managed only one top-10 finish all of last season but is now well placed to match that in the opening event.

He leads a decent Australian showing in the tournament.

Steve Bowditch is a shot behind him after a 67 while Cameron Percey is at seven under after a 70 and Jarrod Lyle (71), Stuart Appleby (74), Aaron Baddeley (72) and Marc Leishman (71) are all tied 41st at three-under.

Bae’s only victory on the PGA Tour was last year at the Byron Nelson Championship, and it meant so much to him that he got an apartment in the Dallas area so he could practice at the TPC Four Seasons.

While he has control of the tournament, he wasn’t sure how he would approach the final round.

“So many good players behind me,” he said. “PGA Tour is always competitive every day, so I don’t play just safe sometimes and aggressive sometimes. I need a really, really good combination. I putted really good this week, so it will be good tomorrow, too.”

Hunter Mahan had a 68 and was with Matsuyama at 206, along with Retief Goosen (66) and David Lingmerth (70).

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