Kuchar closing in on first win since 2014

Matt Kuchar had another rough hole and enough birdies to atone for it Saturday, posting a 6-under 65 to open a four-shot lead in the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.

Kuchar hit a wild drive to the right into mangroves on the par-4 14th and had to get up-and-down to salvage a bogey. That was the only big mistake for Kuchar, who is going after his first PGA Tour title in more than four years.

He saved par from just off the green at the 18th to finish at 20-under 193, four shots ahead of Whee Kim, who had a 66.

It matches the largest 54-hole lead of Kuchar’s career. He also led by four at the Houston Open in 2014, when he wound up losing to Matt Jones in a playoff.

Richy Werenski and Danny Lee each shot 67 and were five shots back, followed by a group that included PGA Tour rookie of the year Aaron Wise (63) and Cameron Champ (69). Champ, who played in the final group with Kuchar and Lee, already won this season at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Kuchar has been piling up birdies at El Camaleon Golf Club, and he began to pull away with four birdies on the front nine. Just like Friday, however, one hole gave him stress. It was the 12th hole in the second round, when he had to make a 35-foot bogey putt. On Saturday, it was a tee shot on the 14th. Kuchar took a penalty from the hazard, and dropped in a good lie a few inches next to the cart path.

Instead of taking relief into deeper rough, he hit with his feet on the path and picked it clean so his fairway metal wouldn’t smack into the cement. It came up just short of the green, and he chipped to 5 feet and made the bogey putt.

Kuchar responded with a tee shot to 4 feet on the par-3 15th to restore his margin to four shots, and he caught a break on the last hole when he pulled his approach, but it struck a tree and came down in light rough to set up a simple up-and-down.

Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk had a 66 and was at 13-under 200. Also seven shots behind was Anirban Lahiri of India, who was tied with Kuchar early on and still in the mix until a double bogey on the 14th hole and a bogey on the 16th. He had to settle for a 69.

Kuchar’s last PGA Tour victory was in Hilton Head, South Carolina, in 2014.

European Tour: Sergio Garcia leads by two strokes going into the final round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge and is on course for a wire-to-wire win at the penultimate event of the European Tour season. Garcia improved his 1-shot overnight lead over Louis Oosthuizen, although the gap would’ve been bigger if not for a twoshot swing Oosthuizen’s way on the final hole of the third round in Sun City, South Africa.

LPGA Tour: Gaby Lopez won her first LPGA Tour event with a 1-over 73 to finish one shot ahead of Ariya Jutanugarn in the Blue Bay tournament in China.

Lopez had bogeys on the last two holes at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Club on Hainan Island and almost let the title slip away. She finished at 8-under 280. Playing in a group with Lopez, No. 1-ranked Jutanugarn had a birdie on the final hole to also finish on 73. Lopez is the first winner from Mexico since Lorena Ochoa.

Champions: Paul Goydos birdied the par-5 18th for a 6-under 65 on Friday and a one-stroke lead after the second round of the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

Tied for the first-round lead with Tim Petrovic after a 63, Goydos had six birdies in the bogey-free round in warm, sunny conditions at Phoenix Country Club.

Scott McCarron, one of six players left in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup points race, was a stroke back at 13 under after a 64.

GETTY IMAGES Georgia Tech product Matt Kuchar has a four-shot cushion in his bid to secure his first PGA Tour win since 2014 today at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico.