Sepp Straka's game has been almost as clean as his head through three rounds at The American Express. Straka shot an 8-under 64 on Saturday in his third straight bogey-free round, staking the newly bald Austrian to a four-shot lead over Charley Hoffman,

Sepp Straka shot an 8-under 64 on while his top competitors failed to match his sizzling pace at The American Express.

Straka’s round at La Quinta in many ways was the reverse of what might have been expected. Playing the back nine first, Straka made six birdies on the way to a 30, the kind of score generally associated with the front nine at the course that opened in 1959.

Charley Hoffman won The American Express golf tournament, then the Bob Hope Classic, in January of 2007. That was four months before Blades Brown was born. On Friday, with the 17-year-old Brown playing his second round as a pro, Hoffman found himself outplaying the youngster, though just barely, to take the lead in the desert’s PGA Tour event.

Charley Hoffman took a share of the lead Friday at the American Express, which the Poway High alum won 18 years ago.

Sepp Straka rode a hot start to an eight-under-par 64 on Saturday to seize a four-shot lead over a trio of players heading into the final round of the US PGA Tour American Express tournament in La Quinta,

Charley Hoffman and Rico Hoey both shot a 9-under 63 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course to share the lead Friday after two rounds at The American Express

"The desert has been great to a lot of junior golfers, hosting a lot of tournament play, so coming back as a pro now and reminiscing on some of the old days that I used to do,” he said. Hoey made some fresh memories Friday,