American Billy Horschel, who is seeking his first career PGA Tour victory, posted a two-under 70 to maintain a two-shot lead after the third round of the Texas Open on Saturday.
Horschel, who would also get an automatic berth into The Masters with a win in San Antonio, finished 54 holes at 10-under 206.
Horschel had to battle some windy conditions on Saturday.
“Today was a good round,” Horschel told reporters. “Obviously there was a lot of emotion going on starting the day, but I felt like I hit the ball pretty well, made some key putts, missed a couple coming in. But with this wind blowing you just have to stay patient and just try to hit every shot solid.”
“I think I did a pretty good job of that, there were a few loose ones, but all in all a good day,” he said.
Jim Furyk carded a three-under 69 to move into a tie for second place, and two-time major winner Rory McIlroy remained in the hunt by posting a one-under 71 to get into a tie for fourth.
Furyk was joined at eight-under 208 by Charley Hoffman who shot a 70.
McIlroy was tied with two others at six-under 210. That group also comprised Ryan Palmer (68) and Bob Estes (69).
McIlroy added the event to his schedule at the last minute to finetune his game for this week’s Masters.
Horschel said he is trying not to think about The Masters. The winner here receives a free pass into the first major championship of the season if they have not already qualified.
“I can’t allow those thoughts to get in my head. I can’t forget about the task at hand,” Horschel said.
“So I’m just going to do a little putting, get some dinner, go back to my room, and wake up tomorrow and focus on playing a solid day,” he said.
“If I can just play my game, play solidly and just keep doing what I’ve been doing all week I’ll be just fine,” Horschel said.
K.J. Choi (72), Padraig Harrington (70), Martin Laird (70), Jeff Overton (70) and Daniel Summerhays (73) were tied for seventh at five-under-par 211.
Despite the breezy conditions, Furyk was able to get off to a quick start with two straight birdies. He also made birdie on the par-five No. 18. It was the third consecutive round Furyk birdied the opening two holes.
“I didn’t have to scramble too much today,” Furyk said. “I got off to a great start in the wind. I was able to get through the first three holes in two-under.”
Of the top 11 players on the leaderboard, only four are in the field for The Masters.
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
Spain starlets Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams dazzled on Thursday as La Roja beat France 5-4 in a thriller in Stuttgart, Germany, to set up a UEFA Nations League final with Portugal. Yamal bagged a brace, while Williams scored and provided an assist as the two wingers cut France’s makeshift defense to ribbons. Mikel Merino and Pedri were also on the score sheet for the UEFA Euro 2024 champions. Kylian Mbappe netted a second-half penalty, but Spain were 5-1 up and cruising, before Les Bleus suddenly woke up as their opponents took their foot off the pedal. France’s three late goals — a
Italy crashed to a 3-0 loss away to Norway, as the four-time FIFA World Cup champions made a disastrous start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign on Friday, while Belgium had to settle for a draw in North Macedonia. Alexander Sorloth, Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland all scored in the first half in pouring rain in Oslo as Norway made it a night to forget for Italy, who missed out on the past two World Cups. “I have no explanation. Our supporters don’t deserve this kind of match. We need to do some soul-searching. It’s unacceptable,” Italy captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi
The Crusaders yesterday produced a clinical performance in difficult conditions to beat the Queensland Reds 32-12 and claim home advantage in next week’s Super Rugby semi-finals. Lock Scott Barrett and prop Tamaiti Williams scored first-half tries to reward an outstanding performance from the Crusaders’ forwards in wet, slippery conditions and bitterly cold temperatures. Scrumhalf Noah Hotham defied the conditions in the second half to score a superb solo try and, after kicking a conversion and penalty to make the score 22-0 at the hour mark, flyhalf Rivez Reihana scored a try which took the game beyond the Reds. “Typical Christchurch weather, cold, wet
RSS