ENDICOTT, N.Y. -- Kevin Sutherland was only eight holes into his round Saturday at the Dick's Sporting Goods Open and already thinking about a 59.
"You're not supposed to do that, are you?" he said.
The way this magical round went, nothing was going to stop him. Sutherland became the first player in Champions Tour history to shoot a 59, and it might have been even better except for a three-putt bogey from about 40 feet just off the 18th green.
"Thank God I didn't four-putt," he said.
The 59 gave Sutherland a one-shot lead over Steve Lowery. Sutherland was at 14-under 130 at En-Joie.
Sutherland, playing in third Champions Tour event since turning 50 in June, opened with four straight birdies -- two of them longer than 30 feet -- and hit hybrid into 6 feet for eagle on the par-5 fifth hole. He ran off three more birdies, including a bunker shot he holed on No. 7 that hit the pin instead of rolling 10 feet away. Sure enough, after thinking about a 59, he made par on No. 9 to go out in 27.
Not only did the gallery begin to grow, Sutherland said the players ahead would watch him hit into the green. He made a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 11 for his second straight birdie, and then settled down for three straight pars. He drove onto the par-4 16th hole for a two-putt birdie to reach 13 under, and then he stuffed his approach to tap-in distance on the 17th, leaving him a par away from 58.
Lowery had nine birdies in his round of 65.
LPGA CHAMMPIONSHIP
PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Brittany Lincicome maintained her lead in the LPGA Championship, the tour's fourth major championship of the season.
The long-hitting Lincicome began the day at Monroe Golf Club with a three-shot advantage over Inbee Park and Lexi Thompson and shot 1-under 71 to finish the third round at 10-under 206.
Lincicome was a shot ahead of Park and Suzann Pettersen. Pettersen had a 67 and Park shot 69.
Mirim Lee was alone in fourth at 7 under after a 69. Seventeen-year-old Lydia Ko had a 71 to join Meena Lee and Gerina Piller at 6 under. Piller shot 69, and Lee had a 71.
Thompson finished with a 74 and was at 4 under.
Lincicome won the 2009 Kraft Nabisco for her lone major title and has five LPGA Tour victories. The United States is seeking to win its fourth straight major title of the season.
WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Nick Watney birdied the final hole for a 5-under 65 and a one-stroke lead after the third round of the Wyndham Championship.
Watney made a 20-foot birdie putt from the right edge of the green on the par-4 18th. The five-time PGA Tour winner had a 14-under 196 total at Sedgefield Country Club.
Brad Fritsch was second after a 65.
Freddie Jacobson and second-round co-leader Heath Slocum were 12 under in the PGA Tour's regular-season finale. Jacobson shot a 66, and Slocum had a 68.
Former Wyndham winners Brandt Snedeker and Webb Simpson joined second-round co-leader Scott Langley at 11 under. Snedeker and Simpson shot 66, and Langley had a 69.
U.S. AMATEUR
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. -- Canadian Corey Conners and South Korean Gunn Yang set up the second straight all-foreign final in the U.S. Amateur.
Conners beat Denny McCarthy of Rockville, Maryland, 1 up at Atlanta Athletic Club, and Yang edged Frederick Wedel of The Woodlands, Texas, in 19 holes.
Last year in the 36-hole final at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, England's Matthew Fitzpatrick beat Australia's Oliver Goss.
Conners, from Listowel, Ontario, is the first Canadian to reach the final since Gary Cowan won his second title in 1971. Last year, Conners lost to Fitzpatrick in the semifinals.
Yang is a sophomore at San Diego State.
The finalists earned spots in the Masters next year, as long as they remain amateurs.
MADE IN DENMARK
AALBORG, Denmark -- Scotland's Marc Warren shot a 5-under 66 in strong wind for a share of the Made in Denmark lead with Wales' Bradley Dredge.
Dredge had a 73. The leaders were at 6-under 207 at Himmerland.