Pádraig Harrington moved into contention at the Valero Texas Open with a 68 on the PGA Tour on Saturday, with a spot in the Masters on offer for the winner.
The Irishman was solid early on, parring his first 10 holes, before birdieing four of the next seven, closing with a par for a four-under 68, and a seven-under-par total for the tournament.
One highlight was a great up-and-down from the rough at 17 for birdie, which he converted. Harrington is third in the field this week in strokes gained around the greens, was five for five on Saturday in Scrambling.
Third-round leader Patrick Rodgers will be playing for his first PGA Tour title and a Masters invitation on Sunday.
Rodgers shot 1-under-par 71 to sit at 12-under 204 at the Oaks Course, good for a one-stroke lead. He posted three birdies but bogeyed the par-4 sixth and par-5 18th holes to finish on a down note.
“I think we all know what’s at stake with a win out here,” Rodgers said. “I haven’t gotten the job done in my career, but it’s quite a thrill. This is why I play, why I compete and I can’t wait to get out there tomorrow.”
Rodgers, 30, is making his 235th Tour start. He has led events after 54 holes four times and has three second-place finishes.
“There’s a lot of guys chasing and great players out here,” Rodgers said. “Obviously, there’s no better place to be than to have an advantage, but it’s going to take a great round in order to get it done.”
One shot back is 2019 Texas Valero Open champion Corey Conners of Canada, who carded a 69 with seven birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey at the par-4 sixth hole.
“I’ve been working hard over the last number of years to try to get back in the winner’s circle and give myself some opportunities and feel like this is a great opportunity here,” Conners said. “I love this golf course and feel really comfortable out here. Yeah, it’s going to be a fun battle, but I’ll be giving it my all.”
Matt Kuchar (9 under) is alone in third after his 3-under 69, while Sam Stevens (68) and Chris Kirk (69) are tied for fourth at 8 under.
Harrington is among six golfers tied for sixth at 7 under. The three-time major champion could become the third-oldest tournament winner in PGA Tour history should he triumph on Sunday.
Former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama (68 on Saturday) is among six golfers tied for 12th at 6 under. Defending champion JJ Spaun is tied for 30th at 3 under after his 70.
On the LPGA Tour, Leona Maguire made the cut at the Dio Implant LA Open but is well adrift of the lead, tied 65th on three over. Hyo Joo Kim leads on 11 under. On the LIV Golf Tour, Brooks Koepka leads by three shots over Sebastian Munoz. Graeme McDowell is tied 19th.
Collated scores (USA unless stated)
204 Patrick Rodgers 66 67 71
205 Corey Conners (Can) 64 72 69
207 Matt Kuchar 68 70 69
208 Chris Kirk 67 72 69, Samuel Stevens 72 68 68 209 Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 70 71 68, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 68 73 68, Harry Higgs 69 68 72, Lee Hodges 74 66 69, Augusto Nunez (Arg) 70 70 69, Sam Ryder 71 70 68
210 Nicolas Echavarria (Col) 73 66 71, Seong-Hyeon Kim (Kor) 72 68 70, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 70 72 68, Andrew Putnam 71 69 70, Nick Taylor (Can) 69 71 70, Dylan Wu 70 71 69
211 Kevin Chappell 71 71 69, Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den) 72 70 69, Taylor Montgomery 68 74 69, Alexander Noren (Swe) 70 71 70, Andrew Novak 69 72 70, Michael Thompson 69 68 74
212 Hayden Buckley 67 73 72, M. J. Daffue (Rsa) 68 72 72, Lanto Griffin 73 70 69, Michael Kim 68 71 73, Brendon Todd 70 67 75, Matt Wallace (Eng) 69 72 71
213 Eric Cole 71 67 75, Pierceson Coody 74 69 70, Nick Hardy 72 70 71, Charley Hoffman 73 69 71, Ben Martin 70 70 73, Aaron Rai (Eng) 71 71 71, Chez Reavie 69 72 72, Matthias Schmid (Ger) 70 71 72, J. J. Spaun 70 73 70, Sepp Straka (Aut) 73 70 70, Jimmy Walker 70 70 73, Trevor Werbylo 72 70 71, Roberto Diaz (Mex) 68 69 76, Ryan Gerard 71 72 70
214 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa) 69 72 73, Rickie Fowler 71 72 71, Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 70 72 72, Beau Hossler 71 69 74, Robby Shelton 73 69 72
215 Luke Donald (Eng) 70 72 73, Harry Hall (Eng) 73 70 72, Si-Woo Kim (Kor) 69 74 72, Luke List 71 69 75, Kevin Streelman 71 72 72
216 Brandon Wu 71 72 73
217 Brice Garnett 71 72 74, Lucas Glover 75 69 73, Estanislao Goya (Arg) 72 70 75, Patton Kizzire 73 70 74, Peter Malnati 67 72 78, Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn) 72 72 73
218 Justin Lower 69 73 76, Kyle Stanley 71 72 75
219 Akshay Bhatia 73 71 75, Jason Dufner 69 74 76, Chesson Hadley 70 74 75, Cole Hammer 72 72 75, Garrick Higgo (Rsa) 69 73 77, Henrik Norlander (Swe) 71 73 75
220 Tyler Duncan 73 70 77 221 Thomas Detry (Bel) 71 67 83 222 Chandler Phillips 71 72 79
