Valero Texas Open, Round 3
| PGATOUR.COM Instant Access | ||
| Valero Texas Open | ||
|
By PGATOUR.COM Staff
SUNDAY:
IN THE BOOKS (9:50 a.m.): The third round of the Valero Texas Open has finally been completed.
Zach Johnson will take a two-shot lead over Paul Goydos into the final round at 15 under, while three-time champion Justin Leonard trails by three.
The final round will begin between 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET, with groups going off the first and 10th tees. -- T.J. Auclair
MATCHING BIRDIES (9 a.m.): Paul Goydos and Justin Leonard each just birdied the par-5 14th hole to move to 13 under, which leaves them just two shots behind clubhouse-leader Zach Johnson.
No. 14 has played has the easiest hole at LaCantera this week, with a scoring average nearly a full stroke under par. -- T.J. Auclair
BACK AT IT (8:30 a.m.): Third-round play at the Valero Texas Open has finally resumed after a weather-plagued, delay-filled Saturday that resulted in a suspension of play due to darkness.
Thirty-six-hole co-leaders Paul Goydos and three-time Texas Open champ Justin Leonard are through 12 holes in their third round and are tied for second at 12 under, three shots behind defending champion Zach Johnson, who fired a course-record-tying, 10-under 60 as he finished his round just before darkness set in on Saturday. -- T.J. Auclair
SATURDAY:
MR. 60 (9:20 p.m.): With darkness closing in, Zach Johnson was closing in on golf's magic number of 59 with birdies on five of his last seven holes before coming to the 422-yard par-4 18th in need of one more birdie.
Johnson drove it in the fairway, leaving himself 171 yards into the green. His approach shot landed just inside 20 feet -- certainly not out of his range -- but he wasn't able to make it. Instead, Johnson had to settle for matching 30s and the second 60 of his career. It was the first 60 on the PGA TOUR since the 2007 TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, where, you guessed it, Johnson shot 60.
On the day, Johnson, the defending champion here, hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation and took just 24 putts. That also gives Johnson a three-stroke lead over Paul Goydos, who ironically enough began the day with a three-shot lead of his own. -- Brian Wacker
Here's a look at Zach Johnson's scorecard from today:
CLOSING IN ON 59 (9:07 p.m.): Zach Johnson just made another birdie -- his eighth of the day to go with one eagle -- and with one more he'll break the course record and shoot a 59. The 18th is playing as the sixth-hardest hole on the course and has yielded just nine birdies all day, but with the way Johnson is hitting it right now, it's certainly not out of the question. -- Brian Wacker
JOHNSON KEEPS ON GOING (9 p.m.): Zach Johnson is certainly in a groove as play nears its conclusion today at LaCantera. He's now birdied four of his last six holes and is 9 under on the day. One more birdie and he'll tie the course record if he can finish in 60. And seeing as how he just hit it to 7 feet on No. 17 you have to like his chances. -- Brian Wacker
PLAY NEARING CONCLUSION (8:40 p.m.): With the sun setting about 40 minutes from now, we're nearing the point in which play will be called for the night, though Zach Johnson would sure like to be playing. He's 8 under through 15 holes and will be up against it to finish, though he'll certainly want to since whoever doesn't finish will have to come back for an early start in the morning before they re-pair for the final round. -- Brian Wacker
JOHNSON JUMPING OUT (8:08 p.m.): Zach Johnson is doing his best to put himself in a position to successfully defend his title at the Valero Texas Open, where earlier he holed out for eagle from 84 yards on No. 7 before posting back-to-back birdies on Nos. 11 and 12 to get to 7 under on his round and into the lead by himself at 12 under.
With maybe an hour of daylight left, Johnson might not finish his round, but you can follow him live with Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker
GOYDOS GIVES UP LEAD (7:58 p.m.): If Saturday is moving day, Paul Goydos is unfortunately moving the wrong way, having just made his second bogey of the day to fall to 2 over on the round and out of the lead.
Goydos' first bogey came on No. 3, where he pulled his tee shot left of the green on the par-3 hole. His next one came at No. 6, another par-3, where he had to take a drop after coming up short on his tee shot.
That's quite a turnaround for Goydos, who had played the par-3s in 5 under through the first two rounds with five birdies and no bogeys. -- Brian Wacker
LEONARD HAS SHARE OF THE LEAD (7:50 p.m.): It didn't take long for Justin Leonard to grab a share of the lead. He just moved to 11 under with his second birdie of the day, rolling in an 11-footer on the par-4 fifth to move into a tie with Paul Goydos and Zach Johnson.
It looks like Leonard won't be adding to that unreal total of just two rounds over par here since 1995. See below for more. -- Brian Wacker
| Players with the fewest over par rounds at LaCantera GC since 1995 (min of 35 rounds) | ||||||||||||||||||
|
LEAD SLIPPING AWAY? (7:28 p.m.): Paul Goydos is off to a shaky start in his third round, making bogey on the par-3 third after pulling his tee shot left of the green. He's the only player near the top of the leaderboard over par on their round today and his lead is down to just one with Zach Johnson leading a group of four players right behind him.
Another of those players is Justin Leonard, who has won here three times and finished second twice. Just how good is Leonard at LaCantera? Since 1995, he's a combined 130 under par, nearly 40 strokes lower than the nearest competitor. -- Brian Wacker
| Lowest combined score to par at LaCantera GC since 1995 | ||||||||||||||||||
|
LAST GROUP ON THE COURSE (7:05 p.m.): It took about 5 hours longer than expected, but the final group of the day, Paul Goydos and Justin Leonard, is on the course for the third round.
Goydos still holds the lead at 12 under, but a few players have been able to make a move on him, including defending champion Zach Johnson, who is 5 under on his round and just two shots back as he gets set to make the turn. Greg Owen is also just two back after playing his first six holes in 3 under.
Leonard, meanwhile, also picked up a stroke after making birdie on the par-5 first. -- Brian Wacker
HOFFMAN HOT (6:35 p.m.): There are low numbers being shot all over the place at LaCantera -- not that that's terribly surprising -- and Charley Hoffman can now add his name to the list of players who went low today with a 63.
Hoffman, who made the cut on the number at 1 under, caught fire on the back nine today, playing it in 30 with birdies on four of his last six holes, including one from 32 feet on the par-4 18th.
That's the lowest score of the year for Hoffman, who, while struggling of late, does have four finishes inside the top 15 this season and a good record in Texas with a T11 and T8 in this event since 2006.
Going inside the numbers on Hoffman, he's putted extremely well here, having missed just three putts from inside 10 feet all week. -- Brian Wacker
Here's a look at Hoffman's scorecard from today:
MORE ON THAT 62 (6:20 p.m.): About the only thing Dustin Johnson didn't do right on Saturday was play his first hole after the lengthy weather delay well.
"It's tough, I had a good rhythm going," Johnson told GOLF CHANNEL. "But I had a good warm-up coming back out. The first hole, I just misjudged the wind a little bit."
That he did, finding the greenside bunker on his approach before two-putting from 8 feet. Still, he bounced back with a pair of birdies and is just three off the lead heading into tomorrow's final round, which he can sleep in for since it will be a little bit later start than usual. -- Brian Wacker
JOHNSON IN WITH LOW ROUND (5:55 p.m.): It appears the lengthy weather delay didn't affect Dustin Johnson, who is in with the lowest round of the afternoon after an 8-under 62 that included nine birdies and just one bogey.
At one point before the delay, Johnson made four straight birdies and then added three more over his last five holes with a bogey on the par-4 15th his only blemish.
That moves Johnson to 9 under for the tournament and, perhaps just as importantly, gets him in the house, while other players at or near the top of the leaderboard will have to complete their third round early tomorrow morning. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a peek at Johnson's scorecard from today:
KAYE CASHES IN (5:25 p.m.): It took Jonathan Kaye a little more than 3 hours to play his first 17 holes. It took nearly 5 hours to play the 18th hole. That was due to the weather delay, of course, but when Kaye resumed his round he didn't miss a beat, making par from the middle of the fairway, where he left his ball. That completed a round of 63 for Kaye, who jumped from T57 to T7.
That's the second 63 of the day -- Shaun Micheel had the other one -- and for Kaye it was easily his best round of the year. Prior to this week, Kaye broke 70 just once in his last 14 rounds, dating back to the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Saturday, Kaye didn't miss a fairway and hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Kaye's scorecard from Saturday:
GAME ON (5:15 p.m.): It's official. The third round is under way again with the horn blowing after nearly a 5-hour delay. We've got about 4 hours of daylight left, so there's still a chance that the final pairing of Paul Goydos and Justin Leonard could get in as many as nine holes today. Whatever is left to be finished in the third round will resume at 8:30 a.m. ET tomorrow. -- Brian Wacker
ALMOST BACK AT IT (5 p.m.): We're about 15 minutes away from the re-start here at the Valero Texas Open. In these situations you always wonder what type of effect such a lengthy delay -- nearly 5 hours -- will have on the players.
When play does resume, Jonathan Kaye will be in the middle of the fairway on the 18th, trying to put the finishing touches on a round of 7-under 63 that's moved him into contention. Then there's Paul Goydos, who never even made it out today and will be lucky to play more than a few holes by the time play ends today.
Whatever happens, we won't finish the third round today, which means it'll be an early start tomorrow with a re-pairing after third-round play is complete. -- Brian Wacker
WEATHER UPDATE (4:25 p.m.): The weather has finally broken enough at the Valero Texas Open and word has just come that today's third round will resume at 5:15 p.m. ET. -- Brian Wacker
DUVAL ON THE WAY BACK (4:05 p.m.) : David Duval came in a little while ago to talk with CBS during the rain delay and had some pretty revealing things to say in his interview with Peter Oosterhuis and Peter Kostis.
Earlier in the week, Duval shot his lowest round in more than two years with an opening 66. He followed that with a 69 yesterday -- though it could have been much better if not for a few loose shots on the back. Still, Duval says this is the result of years of hard work of putting a swing and confidence level back together that's been beaten and broken by a plethora of injuries.
"I'm on the precipices, if you will," Duval said. "I've said it for a long time now ... somewhere on the West Coast I started to feel comfortable. More than anything, it was confidence that was lacking and the scores were starting to be more reflective of how I was hitting the golf ball."
It's hard to argue with that. Through two rounds, Duval leads the field in distance of putts made and T7 in approach shot distance to the pin. He's also hit 19 of 28 fairways and 27 of 36 greens in regulation.
As for coming back from the precipitous fall he had from No. 1 in the world, Duval was his usual introspective self, but also discounted any notion that he wasn't working to be the player of the level he was early in his career.
"I probably took it for granted [back then], the game just came to me," Duval said. "After the [2001] Open, the injuries started to build up and my game was starting to go awry and I could feel it. It's taken years of hard work to put it back together.
"I've put all the components back together and now I'm gaining confidence. I did it entirely to play great. I feel I'm one of the 10 best players in the world, still."
Duval may not be in the top 10 according to the Official World Golf Ranking, but he certainly appears to be on the way back, however long a road it may be. -- Brian Wacker
MICHEEL ON HIS ROUND (3:45 p.m.): One of just eight players to complete the third round, Shaun Micheel can head back to the hotel and wait for what will probably be a late afternoon tee time for tomorrow's final round after shooting a 63 today that got him to 8 under for the week.
"Probably could have been two or three shots better," Micheel said. "I don't really deserve to be too high on the leaderboard after playing the way I did in the first two rounds. I suspect you'll see guys go out and fire low numbers, so I suppose by the end of the day I'll probably be in the middle of the pack again, but it does feel good to have a good number up there."
It should feel plenty good after hitting all but one fairway and one green in regulation today and because of that Micheel was able to attack the course today.
"You gotta get the ball in the fairway," Micheel said. "One of the things I struggle with on this course, particularly when it's windy, is gauging my distance, and I really struggled with that yesterday.
"I thought the pins were pretty good. They were pretty accessible, but I think if you look back at the scoring average, I've been in the first two rounds in the morning, you're seeing 69 maybe Thursday and 68 was the average. So it's out there." -- Brian Wacker
WEATHERING THE STORM (3:30 p.m.): Though most of the rain has moved out of the area, lightning continues to hold things up at the Valero Texas Open, where the third round has now been delayed for more than 3 hours.
Though the maintenance crew was just sent out to the course about 20 minutes ago by the PGA TOUR's Slugger White, there's still quite a bit of work to do. More than an inch-and-a-half of rain fell on the golf course and at best we're looking at a 5 or 5:30 p.m. ET start since it'll take time to repair the course and allow for the players to warm up.
"It's kind of a mess right now to be more than honest," White told CBS.
Because today's third round be completed, White also said we're looking at an early start tomorrow and a re-pair after all players complete their third rounds. That means leader Paul Goydos, for example, could be playing close to 36 holes Sunday as he tries to win for the third time in his career. -- Brian Wacker
ELSEWHERE IN GOLF (3:10 p.m.): After a weather delay that lasted more than 2 hours, the Champions Tour's Regions Charity Classic in Alabama resumed its second round a short while ago. Dan Forsman is in the lead there, but he has company with four players one shot back, including Jo Ozaki, who is 3 under through his first four holes. To follow the action live there, click here.
On the Nationwide Tour, weather hasn't been a problem at all, The bigger question is whether anyone is going to catch Michael Sim, who shot a 62 earlier today and now leads by four at the BMW Charity Open. Click here for more. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Michael Sim's scorecard from today's Nationwide Tour event:
WEATHER UPDATE IV (2:45 p.m.): We're still waiting for a break in the weather at the Valero Texas Open, where lightning and thunderstorms have held up play for over 2 hours now. The system seems to be lingering, too, so it might be a while before play resumes.
Only eight rounds have been completed so far and all of them were below par with Shaun Micheel's 63 leading the way. Others who are already done for the day include Mark Brooks (65, T17); Nathan Green (66, T25); Jason Gore and Mark Wilson (both with 67s and both T45); David Peoples, Richard S. Johnson and Rocco Mediate (all with 68s; all tied for 59th) -- Brian Wacker
THE SHORT OF IT (2:10 p.m.): One reason Paul Goydos has played so well this week is how he's performed on the par-3s at LaCantera, where he's birdied 5 of 8 of them -- compared to an even-par average by the field.
Of those five birdies by Goydos on the par-3s, all of them landed within 15 feet so it's no surprise that he is tied for the lead in putts made distance and T7 in approach shot distance to the pin. -- Brian Wacker
| Putts from 10 to 15 Feet - Paul Goydos - This Week | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
WEATHER UPDATE III (1:35 p.m.): The latest on the weather holding up play at the Valero Texas Open is that it will be at least another hour before it clears and that it will take upwards of 2 hours to get the course ready for play as rain from the thunderstorms overhead hammer the course. -- Brian Wacker
WEATHER UPDATE II (1:25 p.m.): The Valero Texas Open isn't the only event on the schedule battling some bad weather. The Champions Tour's Regions Charity Classic in Alabama is also being held up by a weather delay. -- Brian Wacker
EARLY MOVERS (1:15 p.m.): Before the weather delay, Shaun Micheel matched the lowest score of his career with a 63 today at LaCantera, where he closed out the best score of the week with a back-nine 31.
Always a good ballstriker, Micheel couldn't have been much more accurate this morning, hitting 13 of 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens in regulation on his way to making seven birdies and no bogeys.
Micheel wasn't the only one who was playing well before the horn sounded. Jonathan Kaye and Dustin Johnson are also 7 under on their rounds today with both of them having rolled in five birdies in a six-hole stretch. All three are now 8 under for the week, just four off the lead of Paul Goydos. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Micheel's scorecard from today:
WEATHER DELAY (12:55 p.m.): The third round is currently being delayed by a band of thunderstorms that are in the San Antonio area. Officials aren't sure how long the delay will last, but the radar looks clear once the current cells pass. -- Brian Wacker
GOYDOS IN GOOD POSITION (12:45 p.m.): When Paul Goydos tees off in a little over an hour from now, he'll do so having shot the lowest 36-hole total in his career with rounds of 63-65. That he was able to accomplish that at LaCantera shouldn't be all that surprising. LaCantera is one of the easiest tracks on the PGA TOUR and Goydos has taken advantage of that.
In 38 career rounds here, Goydos has shot over par only six times. The downside to that? All six of them came in the third or fourth round. Still, Goydos has a field-leading 14 birdies so far and three of his five career-best rounds through 36 holes have come at this golf course.
What will Round 3 hold? We'll find out in a little while. -- Brian Wacker
| Paul Goydos Scoring average by round | |||||||||||||||
|
| Groups We're Watching | ||||||||||||
|
Shop your favorite brand name golf equipment and accessories at SHOP.PGATOUR.COM
FAN ZONE
PGATOUR.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network