LA QUINTA, Cali. — Jon Rahm has never met PGA Tour rookie Davis Thompson, but they should get to know each other a little bit Sunday.
That’s because Rahm and Thompson will be in the same final pairing fighting for the title at the American Express.
The veteran and the rookie continued to play strong golf in the third round of the desert’s 64th annual tournament and are tied for the lead at 23-under 193 heading into Sunday’s final round on the Pete Dye Stadium Course at PGA West. The pair have a four-shot cushion over J.T. Poston, who will be in the final threesome with Rahm and Thompson, and Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
Thompson, the leader at the end of the first and second rounds, fell behind Rahm on Saturday but rallied for a 67 on the Stadium Course. Rahm, playing earlier on the same course, shot a 65, his highest round of the week after opening with consecutive 64s. Poston shot 66 on the Stadium Course on Saturday, while Bezuidenhout sizzled to a 62 on La Quinta Country Club.
“I’m excited to play with Jon. He’s obviously a top-5 player in the world,” Thompson said after finishing his round with missed birdie putts on the 17th and 18th holes that could have given him the outright lead. “He’s very good. But I’m excited about the challenge and just looking forward to tomorrow.”
Rahm may not have met Thompson yet, but that doesn’t mean Rahm isn’t an admirer of Thompson’s game, including a PGA Tour record-tying five eagles so far in the tournament.
“He’s doing a phenomenal job and he’s playing amazing golf and showing it,” Rahm said. “I always tell people when they ask me the difference between what you would think is the greatest players in the world and the rest skill-wise is not that big. It really isn’t that big. It’s a few moments here and there that make a difference. One-stroke difference on scoring average for the whole year, it truly doesn’t boil down to that much. That’s usually the difference.”
Rahm was the chaser over the first two days, with Thompson entering the third round at 18-under and Rahm at 16-under. But teeing off more than an hour ahead of Thompson on Saturday, Rahm was able to flip the leaderboard for most of the day. Birdies at the third and fourth holes were followed by a 17-foot eagle putt just off the green on the par-5 fifth. Birdies at the eighth and ninth gave Rahm a front-nine 6-under 30 and a 22-under total, ahead of Thompson.
Rahm built the lead to three shots at times on the back nine with birdies at the 10th and 12th, but Rahm slowed down and played the final six holes in 1 over despite what he felt were solid putts.
“Thirteen great roll, 14 great rolls. 15 great roll, 16 misread, 17 misread. That’s it,” Rahm recounted. “Very simple. All of them good strokes. I can tell you there were earlier putts that weren’t as good as some of those and went in dead center.”
Thompson not backing down
Thompson’s round didn’t feature an eagle after two eagles on Thursday and three on Friday. But Thompson did manage four birdies on his front nine and was tied for the lead with Rahm after a birdie on the 12th hole. But like Rahm an hour earlier, Thompson wasn’t able to keep the momentum going on the closing holes, making one birdie and one bogey.
“I was really proud with how I stayed patient. Didn’t really force anything,” Thompson said. “Made a bad bogey on 14 (a three-putt from 37 feet), but came back and birdied 16. So it was a good way to finish.”
Poston’s round at La Quinta, traditionally the easiest of the three courses, featured one eagle on the par-5 11th, six other birdies and surprisingly two bogeys on the tight course. Poston is four back of the lead despite 23 birdies and one eagle on the week.
Bezuidenhout made 10 birdies and no bogeys at La Quinta, including birdies on four of his last six holes.
No one else held a share of the lead in the third round, though names like Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Jason Day, Sam Burns and Tony Finau all made runs up the leaderboard at some point before falling back late in the day.
Harry Higgs managed a 10-under 62 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Saturday but is tied for fifth at 18-under, five shots behind the leaders. Higgs is tied with Tom Kim, who shot 67 on the Stadium Course, Burns, who shot 64 on the Nicklaus Course, and Taylor Montgomery, who shot 65 on the Stadium Course.
Rahm may have the advantage over Thompson in the final round, since Rahm has eight PGA Tour wins including a U.S. Open title in 2021 and the American Express title in 2018. But Rahm isn’t quite ready to take the mantle of favorite.
“A lot of people could have said that the first time Jordan Spieth won, the first time I won, the first time a lot of people won,” Rahm said. “So do you have an advantage? I don’t know. I mean, I have the experience of being there, if it goes down to the wire. But he’s no slouch, obviously.”
For his part, Thompson says there won’t be much pressure Sunday playing against the No. 4 player in the world who won just two weeks ago on the PGA Tour.
“It’s great. I feel like I don’t have anything to lose in my rookie year,” the 23-year-old Thompson said. “Just kind of freewheel it.”