KEVIN CHAPPELL IS HOLDING OFF GRACE AND HUH IN TEXAS

san antonio» Kevin Chappell birdied three of his final five holes and took a step closer to his first PGA Tour victory with a 1-under 71 on Saturday, giving him a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the Valero Texas Open.

Chappell is 8 under through 54 holes. He’s ahead of first-round leader Branden Grace, who rallied with a 2-under 70, and John Huh. With an eagle-birdie finish, Huh shot 71.

Ryan Palmer, a West Texas native who cut through winds as strong as 25 mph, had the round of the day with a 4-under 68. He’s joined at 6 under by second-round co-leaders Bud Cauley (74) and Tony Finau (74), Sweden’s Carl Pettersson (71), 2013 Texas Open champ Martin Laird (71), Kevin Tway (72) and Australian Cameron Smith (73).

Chappell tied for seventh with Rory McIlroy at the Masters this month, and he got his late charge going Saturday after leaving an eagle putt short at the par-5 14th. He tapped in to gain a stroke, and he made good two holes later with a 12-foot birdie. He chipped to 2 feet on the 318-yard 17th downwind and had another tapin birdie.

• Bernd Wiesberger of Austria shot a 3-under 69 to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Shenzhen International.

Wiesberger, who started the third round with a four-shot advantage, offset two bogeys with five birdies for 15-under 201 overall.

• Colorado State used a secondround best of 8-under 280 to take over the team lead with one round left at the Mountain West Men’s Golf Championship. Thanks to their best championship round since 2010, the Rams’ 36-hole score is 13-under par 563.