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JJ Henry holds one-stroke lead at Barracuda Championship

J.J. Henry plays his second shot on the 17th hole during the third round of the Barracuda Championship
Image: J.J. Henry plays his second shot on the 17th hole during the third round of the Barracuda Championship

American JJ Henry leads the Barracuda Championship with a birdie at the 18th completing a 17-point round on Saturday.

Henry holds a 41-point total at the top of the leaderboard; the 40-year-old won the 2012 event for the last of his two PGA Tour titles. He's 150th in the FedEx Cup standings, with only top 125 advancing the first event in the play-offs.

"This course, this place, is good to me," Henry said. "As I mentioned before, I love being here. I am fortunate enough to obviously win in 2012 and have bunch of other top finishes. I just love coming and playing here. It's just a great place. Obviously, a fun format. When you make a lot of birdies like I did today it makes it even more fun."

David Toms and Sweden's Jonas Blixt were tied for second.

Toms, 48, had 10 birdies and two bogeys in an 18-point round. He won the last of his 13 PGA Tour titles in 2011.

"Any time at my age at this point in my career to have a chance with a really good round tomorrow, that's really all I can ask for," said Toms, the 2001 PGA Championship winner. "That's why I came here.

"So, I'm in that position. Whether I do good or not I'm going to feel comfortable, go out there, and continue to be aggressive when I can and obviously take your licks when you have to."

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Blixt had a 16-point day, playing alongside Henry.

"We kind of fed off each other," Henry said. "He played great. It's nice to see the other guy you're playing with play well. Kind of feed of each other."

Blixt eagled the par-5 eighth and had seven birdies five in a row at the start of the back nine and three bogeys.

"Feel like I've been hitting it pretty well," Blixt said. "I think I had like one or two tee shots that's been a little squirrely. That's going to happen here. You just got to deal with it."

Henry added: "The greens are a little bit more receptive. This place can get pretty tricky when the greens get firm. But you know if you hit the ball in the fairway you're going to have some shorter irons playing at altitude. With soft greens, you know, these guys are good. Somebody is going to play well, and fortunately it's been me so far after three rounds."

Points system: Albatross -8pts; Eagle - 5; Birdie - 2; Par - 0; Bogey -1; Double bogey or higher -3.

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