SAN DIEGO — Harris English finished with a flurry Friday afternoon in the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open, carding birdies on his final three holes for a 6-under 66 and a one-stroke lead over Andrew Novak heading into Saturday’s final round.

“I wouldn’t say I hit the ball great starting out,” said English, 35, a Georgia native and four-time tour winner who is 9-under 207 for the tournament. “But missed it in the right spots and then leaned on my short game and made some really good putts to save par starting out.

“Kind of got the round going, start hitting some really good iron shots and making some putts, getting some momentum. … I’ve played this place for a long time now and I feel like I know where to miss it, where to be aggressive and where to be patient.”

English was in a similar position here a decade ago, sharing the 54-hole lead for the first time in his career in the 2015 Farmers Insurance Open. He was part of a four-man playoff won by Jason Day.

“I know it’s going to be tough, it’s going to be a grind,” said English, who is looking for his fifth PGA Tour victory. “This course is really tough, one of the toughest we play on tour. You’re going to miss some fairways, miss some greens, but you’re going to have to make some tough putts and keep yourself in the game.”

Calm conditions returned to the course Friday after winds whipped in excess of 35 mph while interrupting Thursday’s second round. The final round begins Saturday at 9:10 a.m., with the leaders taking the tee at 11:11. The winner receives $1.67 million of the $9.3 million prize money.

Novak, 29, who is looking for his first tour win, matched English with a 66 of his own. He did it with four birdies on the back nine, holing a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to finish out.

“I feel like I’ve been hitting it well, short game’s been super solid,” Novak said. “I just haven’t made a lot of putts, but I’ve been patient, a lot of them have been very close. Then last 10 or 11 holes, just got hot. All the ones that were just missing by tiny margins just started falling in. Just had to be patient and finally got them to go.”

Aldrich Potgieter was alone in third place after shooting 67. Four others — K.H. Lee (68), Matti Schmid (68), Joel Dahmen (70) and Lanto Griffin (73) — are tied for fourth, four shots back. Seven players are five shots back, including two-time champion Brandt Snedeker, whose 4-under 68 made him one of 13 players to break par on the day.

Ludvig Aberg, who shared the second-round lead with Griffin, was bothered by illness throughout the round. He was among those tied at 4 under after shooting a 2-over 74.

Day is six strokes behind with Hideki Matsuyama, and eight others, after both shot 70 in the third round.

©2025 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Visit sandiegouniontribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.