Jason Day, eyeing his first PGA Tour victory in more than two years, was tied for the lead at the Vivint Houston Open on Saturday, shooting a 3-under-par 67 less than two weeks after withdrawing during the final round at the CJ Cup because of neck discomfort.
The Australian was in front with second-round leader Sam Burns, who began the day in the lead and ahead by two strokes. He overcame back-to-back early bogeys to salvage a 69.
Day and Burns were at 201, one stroke ahead of Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz. Ortiz, tied for second after each of the first two rounds, also put up a 67. Like Burns, he and several other contenders are chasing their first PGA Tour title.
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Top-ranked Dustin Johnson was another two shots back after a bogey-free 66. This was his first start since the US Open following a six-week break brought on by a positive test for the novel coronavirus.
Johnson nearly put himself out of the tournament after opening with a 72 on the public Memorial Park course near downtown that’s hosting a Tour event for the first time since 1963.
First-round leader Brandt Snedeker’s third-round 76 dropped him far out of contention.
Day has 12 Tour titles — the 2015 PGA Championship among them — but none since 2018 after winning eight times over a sparkling two-year stretch in 2015-16 to climb to No. 1. This summer, flummoxed by his long slump caused in part by ongoing back and neck issues, he decided to split with Colin Swatton, his coach and mentor since he was 12.
Day put himself in the mix at the CJ Cup in Las Vegas with a third-round 66 but took a triple bogey on the opening hole of the final round. Then he pulled his approach from the right rough into the water. He called it a day after hitting two shots on the second hole, the first of which he also pulled badly.
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Having intended to play every fall tournament to prepare for next week’s delayed Masters, Day returned last week for the ZoZo Championship and finished in a tie for 60th-place.
Austria’s Shepp Straka, also chasing a breakthrough Tour victory, was alone in fourth place at 203, a shot ahead of the fifth-place Johnson after his 66. Straka had held a share of the lead before bogeying the 17th hole.
Dawie van der Walt, a South African who lives in the Houston area, briefly got to the lead at 8 under but lost three strokes to par on the back nine, falling into a sixth-place tie with Aaron Wise.
Champions — Kevin Sutherland hit a sand wedge to inches on the par-5 18th for one last birdie on a windy afternoon in the desert at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Sutherland shot a 7-under 64 to take a five-stroke lead into the final round at Phoenix Country Club. He had a 13-under 129 total.
"Yeah, it played hard, I just hit a lot of shots really close to the hole, hit it solid,'' Sutherland said. “What was important for me today was I holed out of the bunker on 6. At that point I felt I couldn’t find a rhythm. After that, I hit just about every shot right on the button and made a few putts and got a couple really close and just kind of snowballed.”
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The tournament is the final official event of the year, but not the season as in the past. Because of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent loss of tournaments, the 2020 and 2021 seasons have been combined with the Schwab Cup winner to be determined in a year.
The 56-year-old California player won the 2017 event — as well as the season points title — at tree-lined Phoenix Country Club for the first of his three PGA Tour Champions victories.
“This place has been so good to me,” Sutherland said. “It’s hard to believe that was three years ago that I won here and I won the Schwab Cup. This place has great memories for me.”
Sutherland had eight birdies and a bogey, playing the back nine in 5-under 30 in the high wind.
“My ball was wobbling on the tee on 16, it was kind of disconcerting,” Sutherland said. “It was a little disconcerting watching the ball kind of wobble a little bit as you’re getting ready to hit it. When it’s windy like this, you’ve just got to go.”
Wes Short Jr. was second after a 66.
“It was tough conditions I thought for the way the wind was blowing,” Short said. “I just didn’t hit it in play enough off the tee to really attack. It was just like defense-mode all day.”
European — Nineteen players advanced to the Sunday shootout in the Cyprus Showdown, with Johannes Veerman of the United States and Matthew Jordan of England entering the final day full of confidence after shooting the lowest score in the third round.
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In a first-of-its-kind format on the European Tour, the scores were reset after the first two days' play and will be again after Saturday’s round.
Veerman and Jordan both shot 7-under 64 and will tee off as part of the first group in Sunday’s final.
Bernd Ritthammer of Germany and Jamie Donaldson of Wales had 65s.
All players who shot 69 or more missed the tournament’s second cut.
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Jason Day catches up to Sam Burns at the Houston Open - The Boston Globe
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