Thongchai Jaidee, Padraig Harrington atop of the Cologuard Classic leaderboard entering final day

After firing a 6 under on Saturday, Padraig Harrington moved up to -11, tying Thongchai Jaidee, who shot 4 under after shooting 7 under (67) in the opening round of Tucson's PGA Tour Champions event at La Paloma Country Club. 

Harrington, Jaidee and Tommy Gainey — who is tied for third at -10 — will be the final group to tee off Sunday morning at La Paloma Country Club. The featured group will tee off at 10:17 a.m. 

Harrington eagled the ninth and 11th holes on Saturday. Coupled with a birdie on the 10th hole, Harrington was 5 under in a three-hole stretch. Harrington said the opening round on Friday, along with the first half of the round on Saturday, "I couldn't hole a putt. That is golf," Harrington said. 

"Even though I hadn't played bad, because I was scoring bad it was like I was feeling bad about how I was playing," Harrington said. "Reality is I actually had played quite well. Then obviously I played 10 very nicely."

Harrington said La Paloma Country Club's course "gets far tougher when you're close to the lead than it is when you're chasing."

"Somebody chasing can very easily shoot a low number out there when they feel good. About every single hole has a bit of danger. There's out-of-bounds out there, there's bushes there. It's a lot tougher golf course when you're up and around the lead, and we can see that today with the leaders. ... You can find yourself in some weird and wonderful places on this course with the change in altitude and things like that. My expectations for tomorrow is I'm going to encounter some trouble. Hopefully I'll make enough birdies to overcome that."

Jaidee is looking for his first PGA Tour Champions victory since 2023, when he won the PURE Insurance Championship. Harrington is eyeing his 12th tournament win since joining PGA Tour Champions in 2022. 

Steven Alker, who won the Cologuard Classic last year, moved up 40 spots on the leaderboard after shooting 9 under on Saturday. Alker (-9) is tied for fifth with Zach Johnson and Jason Caron. Alker, Johnson and Bernhard Langer, who is tied for third, will tee off at 10:06 a.m. on Sunday.

Cologuard ambassador and tournament host Jerry Kelly withdrew for a rib injury during the second round on Saturday. Kelly also withdrew from the Cologuard Classic last year. 

Click here for the Cologuard Classic leaderboard.