Stephan Jaeger held the top spot for a second day at the Farmers Insurance Open Friday, with two golfers trailing him by one stroke heading into the final round.
Jaeger, at 11-under for the tournament, maintained his lead over Nicolai Højgaard, but Matthieu Pavon rose to join Højgaard in a tie for second place.
Thomas Detry, despite briefly passing Jaeger, fell to fourth, but remained two strokes off the pace, while five players tied for fifth at three strokes back.
The leaders didn’t have a great day – Jaeger, Højgaard and Detry each had 1-over 73s in the third round, and Pavon an even-par 72. Jaeger, from Germany, bogeyed six holes, while Detry, had four, then after taking the lead, saw a damaging double bogey on the 18th drop him down.
“I got punched in the face,” Detry told CBS Sports of his effort on the final hole.
Jaeger, who is chasing his first PGA Tour win, told Reuters that he “didn’t have my best stuff,” but added that he was “super happy with how (I) mentally kind of attacked the golf course.”
Several others at Torrey Pines, though, had banner days and jumped up the board.
Taylor Pendrith and Trace Crowe each shot a 3-under 69, to land in fifth place, while Jake Knapp and Taylor Montgomery each finished at 2-under 70. Joe Highsmith joined them in fifth, following a 1-under 71 round.
Nine players sat in a tie for 10th, four strokes back, including Tony Finau and San Diego State alum Xander Schauffele, the top-ranked golfer in the field.
He’s joined by Ryan Brehm and Will Zalatoris, who each surged with rounds of 4-under 68, along with Ludvig Aberg, who shot a 3-under 69, and Robby Shelton, with a 2-under 70.
Finau had the worst day of those in the Top 10, to slide five spots following a 2-over 74.
Other locals, Michael Kim and Charley Hoffman, crashed Friday. Hoffman, a Poway High alum, plummeted from five back to trail Jaeger by 11 strokes.
Kim, a Torrey Pines High alum, in a tie for fifth Thursday, fell to seven strokes back.
The field of 156 narrowed to 79 for the remainder of the tournament, which concludes Saturday. The winner pockets $1.62 million, part of the event’s $9-million purse.
