SHANGHAI (AP) - Even with two majors, five victories, a FedEx Cup title and over $22 million in earnings this year, Jordan Spieth offered an honest appraisal about the final World Golf Championship of the year. He really didn't think he would have much of a chance in the HSBC Champions.
Now he does.
The third round at Sheshan International ended Sunday morning when Russell Knox returned to play one hole and it proved to be a wiser decision than trying to finish in the dark. He made birdie for a 4-under 68 and tied Kevin Kisner (70) for the 54-hole lead.
Dustin Johnson played mistake-free to get within one shot. Also one back was Li Haotong, the 20-year-old who gave China hope one of its own could win on a world stage.
And then there was Spieth, right where he has been so much of the year.
Before the third round, Spieth was 12 shots behind and wondering he could even make another par. He ended Friday with two birdies, and then raced up the leaderboard in soft conditions Saturday with a 9-under 63 to go from the middle of the pack to three shots behind.
Kisner chipped in for birdie on the 15th hole to go from a two-shot deficit to a tie for the lead when Knox three-putted for bogey, and the 31-year-old American pulled ahead with a birdie on the 16th and two pars to finish at 16-under 200.
Johnson, who won the HSBC Champions the last time he was here two years ago, has made 10 birdies in his last 21 holes and shot a 65. Li wasted no time getting the Chinese gallery fired up when he opened with four straight birdies on his way to a 66.
CHARLES SCHWAB CUP CHAMPIONSHIP
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Michael Allen held onto the lead in the Champions Tour's season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship, and playing partner Bernhard Langer pulled within a stroke to easily remain in position to take the points title.
Allen shot a 1-under 69, making six birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey in breezy conditions on Desert Mountain's Cochise Course. He had a 12-under 198 total.
The 56-year-old Scottsdale resident birdied the par-3 11th to open a six-stroke lead, then played the next four holes in 4 over. He rebounded with a birdie on the par-3 17th and parred the par-5 18th.
Langer birdied the final two holes for a 68. The 58-year-old German star is competing with Colin Montgomerie and Jeff Maggert for the Charles Schwab Cup points title and a $1 million annuity.
Montgomerie had a 71 and was tied for 18th in the 30-man field at 1 under. Maggert was tied for 21st at even par after a 71.
SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Rain washed out all but 40 minutes of play in the Sanderson Farms Championship, further delaying the waterlogged event.
Roberto Castro topped the leaderboard at 15 under with rounds of 62 and 67 with 76 players yet to completed the second round at the Country Club of Jackson.
Bryce Molder and Jhonattan Vegas were second at 11 under, and Patrick Rodgers, Michael Thompson, Brian Davis and D.J. Trahan followed at 10 under.
Play is set to resume early Sunday. After the second round is completed, the third and fourth will be played. However, tournament officials are prepared to extend play into Monday if 72 holes can't be completed Sunday. Clear conditions are expected Sunday and Monday.
TOTO JAPAN CLASSIC
SHIMA, Japan (AP) - Sun-Ju Ahn won the Toto Japan Classic on Sunday for her first LPGA Tour victory and 20th Japan LPGA title, beating fellow South Korean player Ji-Hee Lee and American Angela Stanford with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff.
The 28-year-old Ahn closed with a 5-under 67 at Kintetsu Kashikojima to match Stanford and Lee at 16-under 200. Stanford also shot 67, and Lee had a 66.
Ahn also won the Japanese tour's Century 21 Ladies in July.
The 37-year-old Stanford won the last of her five LPGA Tour titles in 2012. She dropped to 1-4 in playoffs, including a loss in the 2003 U.S. Women's Open.
South Korea's Jenny Shin, the second-round leader, had a 70 to finish a stroke back.
Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn closed with a 64 - the best round of the week - to finish fifth at 14 under. She began the day tied for 29th.
WALGREENS CHARITY CHAMPIONSHIP
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Sweden's Liselotte Neumann shot her second straight 4-under 68 for a three-stroke victory in the Legends Tour's Walgreens Charity Championship.
The 49-year-old Neumann, from Sweden, has two senior victories and after winning 13 LPGA Tour titles. Neumann earned $30,000 in the 36-hole event at The Seagate Country Club.
Nicole Jeray was second after a 66. Pat Hurst (68), Juli Inkster (69) and Rosie Jones (70) tied for third at 4 under. Jan Stephenson won the Super Legends Division for players 63 and over, shooting a 73 for a one-stroke victory over Judy Dickinson.