Burns leads Nelson by one stroke
Sam Burns still has the lead going into the final round of the AT&T Byron Nelson at McKinney, Texas, despite more magic on the 18th green from local favorite Jordan Spieth.
Now it’s a race to beat the weather in Texas in the final round with a good number of the players headed to the PGA Championship in South Carolina.
Burns shot a 3-under-par 69 for a one-stroke lead over K.H. Lee, who had a 67. Spieth, Matt Kuchar and Charl Schwartzel each shot 66 and were three strokes back along with Alex Noren, who shot 70.
The players will switch from twosomes back to threesomes going off the first and 10th tees soon after daybreak Sunday with heavy rain in the forecast. Without delays, the tournament will finish about four hours earlier than normal.
Spieth rolled in another eagle at the par-5 18th, this time a shorter, bending putt from the fringe behind the hole. It trimmed his deficit after Spieth’s 55footer up a hill that splits the green gave him a share of the first-round lead.
“Once it got on the green, it looked good,” Spieth said. “Started the putter raise and I wasn’t positive it was going in because the angle it was coming in at. I wanted to do the no look to the crowd, but, I mean, it was a really cool moment.”
Scott Stallings and Harris English shot matching 63s after making the cut on the number at 6-under, a record low for the Nelson.
EUROPEAN TOUR
Richard Bland won his first European Tour event at the 478th attempt after beating Guido Migliozzi in a playoff for a dramatic finish at the British Masters at Birmingham, England.
Bland became the oldest first-time winner in European Tour history at 48 when he parred the first extra hole at The Belfry after Migliozzi three-putted from long range.
“It’s probably going to take a few days to sink in,” an emotional Bland said. “It’s what I’ve worked for for 20 years. I’ve had a few close calls and I assume someone up there was looking down on me quite favorably today.
“A big incentive for me this year was to get to 500 events and this will allow me to do that, which I’ll be hugely proud of.”
Bland carded a superb final round of 66 to set the clubhouse target on 13under, but looked in danger of cruelly being denied victory by the fast-finishing Migliozzi.
Birdies on the 15th and 16th gave Migliozzi a share of the lead and he then found the green in two on the par-five 17th, but missed from five feet for birdie after lipping out from long range for an eagle.
Migliozzi’s tee shot on the 18th plugged in the wet grass on the edge of a bunker but, after receiving a free drop, he hit his approach into a greenside bunker and got up and down to force extra holes.
The players returned to the 18th and it was advantage Migliozzi after a superb drive left him 50 yards closer to the green, but after both players hit indifferent approaches it was Migliozzi who charged his birdie attempt five feet past the hole and missed the return.
England’s Eddie Pepperell took a one-shot lead into the final round but the 2018 champion could manage only a closing 73 to fall back into a tie for 11th with tournament host Danny Willett.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
Paul Goydos shot a bogey-free 3-under 69 to take a one-stroke lead over Billy Andrade into the final round of the PGA Tour Champions’ Mitsubishi Electric Classic at Duluth, Minnesota. Goydos, 56, had an 8-under 136 total at TPC Sugarloaf. He has five senior victories after winning twice on the PGA Tour. Andrade eagled the par-5 18th in a 68.