Munoz retains the lead
Golfer who lives in Dallas leads local favorite Spieth by 1
Sebastian Munoz will be the “other” local guy in the final pairing of the final round of the Byron Nelson.
It’s cool by the Colombian who now calls the Dallas area home and has at least shared the lead after all three rounds.
Munoz shot a 6-under 66 on Saturday and was 21 under, a stroke ahead of hometown favorite Jordan Spieth, who is still seeking a breakthrough at the event in which he contended in the final round as a 16-year-old high schooler in 2010. Spieth shot a 64.
Joaquin Niemann will be the third player in the final group Sunday, alone in third another shot back after a 65. James Hahn almost matched Munoz’s opening-round 60 at TPC Craig Ranch, shooting 61 to jump 34 spots to a tie for fourth with Justin Thomas (64).
Spieth is a year younger than Munoz at 28 but has three majors among 13 career victories after starring at the University of Texas. Munoz, who played in college nearby at North Texas, is 21⁄2 years removed from his lone PGA Tour win.
“Besides winning in Bogota, Colombia, I’ve never been the favorite of any other place,” Munoz said. “So it’s a familiar spot. Jordan is, of course, the golden boy here, so everyone’s favorite. I’m good friends with him, so it’s going to be a lot of fun tomorrow.”
LPGA: Minjee Lee had an eagle-birdie run on the back nine and took a one-shot lead over Madelene Sagstrom heading into the final round of the Cognizant Founders Cup. Lee, the tour’s leading scorer this year, shot a 3-under 69 on a day Upper Montclair Country Club showed some teeth with the wind picking up early and rain falling on the leaders for the final 11 holes. The 25-year-old Australian, who had a three-shot lead at the halfway point, was at 17-under 199 after 54 holes. She’s looking for her first win of the year and seventh on tour. Sagstrom, the Swede who had the first-round lead after a 63, had the best third-round with a 67. The 29-year-old is seeking her second win. Lexi Thomson started the round tied with Sagstrom at 11 under, and was alone in third, three shots back after a 69. She might have been closer to her first win since 2019 but she just missed at least five or six putts. Two-time defending champion and No. 1 ranked Jin Young Ko of South Korea was far back at 5 under.
Champions: Steve Stricker took a three-stroke lead over Steven Alker into the final round of the Regions Tradition, birdieing the final hole for a 6-under 66. Playing his third straight tournament after a six-month hiatus for health reasons, Stricker was at 17-under 199 as he seeks his second win in the past three tries in the PGA Tour Champions major at Greystone Golf & Country Club. He had three straight birdies from holes 13-15 after his lone bogey and polished off the round with a fourth.
DP World: Ryan Fox birdied the 18th hole to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Soudal Open. The New Zealander bogeyed early in his third round at Rinkven International to slip further off the pace, but birdied his next hole, and reeled off five more coming home in a 5-underpar 66. Fox won his second European tour title in February in the United Arab Emirates, and has two top-10s this month. Fox was at 11 under overall, one shot ahead of Sam Horsfield.