Brian Harman recovered from a shaky start on the way to an even-par 72 for a three-stroke lead through the third round of the Texas Open on Saturday.
The American wavered at times after entering the day with a four-shot edge but came through enough as several contenders stalled in their pursuits.
Andrew Novak shot 69 to move to nine under in second place. Tom Hoge (68) is in third at eight under and Kevin Mitchell (73) is fourth at seven under.
Chad Ramey (70), Finland’s Sami Valimaki (70) and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune (73) all share fifth place.
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Andrew Novak stuns the crowd by accidentally hitting his shot onto the grandstand and settling a few feet away from the hole
Harman had bogeys on two of the first four holes. Birdies on Nos 14 and 17 got him on track.
Yet, the late-round challenges included needing to scramble for par on the par-3 16th hole after his tee shot was in the fringe rough.
Canada’s Corey Conners, a two-time winner of the tournament, had worked himself into contention before a disastrous stretch.
He began on the backside and chipped in for eagle on No 17, sharing third place on the leaderboard.
But Conners played his last two holes in three over, with a double-bogey six on No 9.
Watch the Valero Texas Open from San Antonio live from 6pm on Sky Sports Golf on Sunday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
When is The Masters live on Sky Sports?
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Can Rory McIlroy complete a career Grand Slam at The Masters this year? Watch all the action live from April 10 on Sky Sports Golf!
Sky Sports Golf will be showing record hours of live coverage from the 2025 contest, where Scheffler returns as defending champion, including more action over the final two rounds than previous years.
Wall-to-wall coverage from the tournament begins at 2pm on Thursday, with Featured Group action and regular updates from around the course available to enjoy on Sky Sports Golf until the global broadcast window begins at 8pm.
The same timings will apply on Friday, while a new addition to this year’s coverage sees a Masters build-up show live from 3pm over the weekend ahead of full coverage starting at 5pm, covering all the action until after the close of play.
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On Sky +, Sky Q and Sky Glass there will be lots of extra action via the red button on the Sky Sports Golf channel, providing plenty of bonus feeds and allowing you to follow players’ progress through various parts of Augusta’s famous layout.
Who will win The Masters? Watch from April 10-13 live on Sky Sports. Live coverage of the opening round begins with Featured Groups on Thursday April 10, from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.
