Patton Kizzire takes four-shot lead at Procore Championship

NAPA, Calif. – Patton Kizzire was at the end of the autograph line when he was asked for a ball or glove after a third-round 67 gave him a four-shot lead at the Procore Championship.

His pockets were empty.

“I’ve given away all my stuff,” he told the girl. “I’ll have to give you this.”

He took the pin sheet out of his yardage book, signed it, and handed it over.

It’s been a while since Kizzire, 132nd in the FedExCup, did a whole lot of autograph signing, just as it’s been a while since he won twice in two months in 2017-18.

At the Procore at Silverado, though, he is proving he hasn’t lost his touch, making just one bogey as he stretched his lead over David Lipsky (70) going into Sunday.

Mackenzie Hughes (66), Greyson Sigg (66), Corey Conners (66), and Patrick Fishburn (70) were 13-under par, five shots off the lead.

“Swing feels good,” said Kizzire, 38, who ranks in the top six in Driving Accuracy (T6), Strokes Gained: Approach (5th), and Strokes Gained: Putting (2nd). “I've been a little bit more focused on the mental game because I think that allows my swing to work, so that's been a good combo.”

Hard to believe Kizzire missed six straight cuts from late January through March, two more cuts at the 3M Open and Wyndham Championship, and didn’t make the FedExCup Playoffs.

It was Aug. 9 when he signed his card Friday at the Wyndham, leaving him plenty of time to hit the reset button. He started seeing a new mental coach, a woman who lives not far from him in St. Simons Island, Georgia, and she has him going barefoot in the grass and hugging the occasional tree to reconnect to playfulness and positivity.

His goal was to become unflappable, which he was not during those six straight missed cuts, but the 6-foot-5-inch golfer has kept his head well above the fray this week.

“I think what was wrong, you couldn't see it in the stats,” he said. “I think the consistency comes from a solid mental foundation and allowing yourself to compete. So, I've been working on that and that's been a huge boost for me.”

Silverado’s tree-lined fairways and doglegs make it tough to keep it in the short grass, but such were the conditions for his two TOUR wins at Mayakoba and the Sony Open in Hawaii in the 2017-18 season.

Those two victories were both somewhat odd. He had to play 36 holes on Sunday to outlast Rickie Fowler at rain-plagued Mayakoba and needed a six-hole playoff to beat James Hahn at the Sony Open in Hawaii. The Sony Open that year also featured a false missile alert warning citizens to take cover that wasn’t revealed to be a glitch for nearly 40 minutes.

Kizzire could in fact be a three-time TOUR winner but for his runner-up finish by a stroke in Napa eight years ago.

“Yeah, this is very similar to Sony,” he said of the hard-to-hit dogleg fairways at Silverado’s North Course and Waialae Country Club. “This course has a little more undulation on the greens. The greens were fantastic. The maintenance crew has done a fantastic job, the agronomy team has done a fantastic job. They're rolling really nice.

“I'm seeing the greens well and putting it on the line, it's holding,” he added.

All seven players with at least a four-stroke lead through 54 holes on TOUR this year have won. Kizzire would move to 70th in the FedExCup if he does the same, securing his PGA TOUR card for next season. He would also end a win drought of 6 years, 8 months, and 1 day (176 starts). So far, he looks as if he hasn’t forgotten a thing.

“This is a golf course I really enjoy playing,” he said, “and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.”