SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Brandt Snedeker and Beau Hossler each shot 5-under 67 rounds to join JJ Spaun and Dylan Fritteli at the top of the leaderboard after the third round of Saturday’s Valero Texas Open.
Spaun, who shot 69, and Fritteli (70) both made it past the last hole to finish with a 10-under 206 lead.
Another final hole bogey put Scott Stallings in the lead. He also shot 65 and was a 9-under return shooter. 18-year-old Matt Kuchar’s magic sent him down 8 under after an even inning.
Spaun hit four of his five holes toward the 18th hole to take a shot ahead. In the 17th minute, he drove a 303-yard par-4 green and almost made a 19-foot eagle. However, he pushed his tee into the 18th mile, punched out, then plopped into the stream protecting the last green. He finished with a 22-foot cross for him to miss.
Second-round leader Ryan Palmer didn’t have a bad Friday. On Saturday, he didn’t have a birdie and dropped to 21st with 5 out of 77.
With the first round without a flat butt, Snedeker was leading 4 below. He is looking for his first win since 2018. This will be his 10th win on tour.
Spaun and Hossler are both looking to win their first tour, and Fritteli won in 2019 at the John Deere Classic.
Maverick McNealy had his best round of the day with 65, and he returned three shots with Charles Howell III (72), Si Woo Kim (68), Denny McCarthy (68), Troy Merritt (69), Aaron Rai (68), Brendon Todd (72 years old) and Gary Woodland (72 years old).
Hossler had a straight treble starting in 14th as all of his approach shots finished less than 10 feet from the hole. Professional since 2016 after playing at the University of Texas, Hossler had the best of his career with a second place finish at the 2018 Houston Open and a third this year at Pebble Beach.
Stallings, a 37-year-old three-time tour winner, began his day out of the top 20 and into the ranks of the leaders as a 36-foot tall player dropped to eighth to relegate to seventh. It was his third birdie of the day, and two more at 14 and 15 gave him the lead. The win will be his first since the 2014 Farmers Insurance expansion and will help him qualify for the masters next week. He hasn’t competed in Augusta since being missed in 2014.
Kuchar was two strokes ahead of the lead on the first day, but he took a six-way lead to take the lead as he stepped out of the second green after a four-foot birdie putt. He leads with 16 feet in next place. The lead is two with a birdie from 17 feet on Wednesday. But his triple shot within 40 feet in the fifth inning soon got him back into a draw. Spaun played three of his first six holes and hit 10 under in 6th place.
This is the second time this week Spaun has hit double digits and topped the charts. On Friday, he hit 10-under and hit three out of four holes, including a loss on the ninth. On Saturday, he hit twice on the ninth hole.
Copyright 2022 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and the Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
