CROMWELL, Conn. — Kramer Hickok finished the third round of the Travelers Championship too late in the day to go fly fishing again.
He’ll have to wait until today to try to reel in the biggest catch of his career, both on and off the golf course.
The 29-year-old minor league tour regular shot a 2-under 68 on Saturday to tie for the lead with three-time Travelers winner Bubba Watson at 10 under. Hickok, who has never won on the PGA Tour, opened a two-stroke lead before bogeying the final two holes.
“I thought I’d be a lot more nervous than I am,” said Hickok, who went fly fishing on the nearby Farmington River after the first round. “I know those nerves are going to be there. It’s just embracing those nerves, not trying to fight it.”
Watson shot a 68 at TPC River Highlands, picking up three strokes on Hickok over the final two holes. Jason Day also was in a tie for the lead before a bogey on No. 18 dropped him into a three-way tie at 9 under.
“When you’re playing in the afternoon, you know the challenge ahead of you,” said Watson, who won the event in 2010, 2015 and 2018. “You don’t want to play safe. In my stage of my career, if I have a chance to win, I’m going to go for it. That’s the key. I’m not going to worry about third or fourth place. I am going to try to go for it if I can.”
Hickock was 12 under — two strokes ahead of Day and three in front of Watson — heading to the 17th before flying the green and missing a 10-foot par putt. He was still a stroke ahead of the final pairing before three-putting from 8 feet on No. 18 to fall back into a tie.
“I’ve been in contention before,” said Hickok, who has victories on the Korn Ferry Tour and Canada’s Mackenzie Tour. “Obviously, this is a bigger stage. But it’s just about going out there and playing golf, and I play my best when I’m relaxed.”
Watson birdied No. 17 to move to 10 under and then missed a 5-foot birdie putt on No. 18 that would have given him the lead. Day, the overnight leader, hit his drive into a fairway bunker on the 18th hole and settled for a bogey to finish at 70.
Cameron Smith (66) and Russell Henley (68) also were 9 under, and three players were another stroke back.
Defending champion Dustin Johnson, who birdied the last two holes Friday to make the cut on the number, shot 65 to climb into a tie for ninth at 7 under.
“To birdie the last two yesterday to make the cut, which I definitely wanted to be here for the weekend, and obviously go out today and shoot a nice score, it was good,” he said. “So I feel like the game is coming around.”
Johnson shot a third-round 61 last year to move from a tie for 20th into second, two strokes behind leader Brendan Todd. His victory was his first in 490 days, and a win today would give him his first victory of 2021.
Abraham Ancer made a hole-in-one with a 7-iron on the 179-yard eighth hole. It was his second straight year with an ace at TPC River Highlands. He made a hole-in-one on the 169-yard 16th hole in the first round last year, when he tied for 11th.
Kyle Stanley also had an ace with a 7-iron on the eighth.
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