Jimmy Walker rode the wind to a 3-under-par 69 on Saturday that gave him a four-stroke lead over Jordan Spieth heading to the final round of the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas.
Walker, who lives a few miles from the course, pulled ahead as many struggled in the tricky conditions, carding six birdies that included three on the last five holes.
“It’s a tough golf course,” said Walker, who has claimed his first four PGA Tour victories in the last two seasons since turning 35. “I thought coming into today that even par or maybe 1-under would be a good score. You definitely want to find a way to extend the lead, but you have to be smart about it.
“Jordan and I played (together) the first two days out here and we had a lot of people. We’ll probably have even more people tomorrow. It should be fun.”
Spieth was right with Walker after making four birdies on the last five holes of the front nine, but struggled coming home with two bogeys and a double bogey 5 on the 16th hole en route to a 71.
The 21-year-old from Dallas, who won the Valspar Open in his last start, will be paired with Walker in the final round on Sunday.
“I’m going to have to hit the ball better than I did today,” said Spieth, who has won three times since last November. “A couple of tough breaks on the back nine. All in all, I was playing a really solid round of golf, minus a couple of decisions and a couple of swings.”
Billy Horschel, the reigning FedEx Cup champion, birdied his last three holes to shoot 71 and was six shots back in solo third.
Zach Johnson, who won the Texas Open in 2008 and 2009, birdied the last two holes to complete a 72 and was seven strokes behind in a tie for fourth with Brendan Steele (72) of Idyllwild and UC Riverside, Chesson Hadley (71) and Jason Kokrak (71).
Phil Mickelson, looking for his first top-10 finish of the season with the Masters only two weeks away, hit his second shot from 258 yards to within three feet for an eagle on the 14th hole.
However, Lefty struggled for the rest of the day and his 74 dropped him nine shots behind Walker in a tie for 11th. His last top-10 finish was second behind Rory McIlroy in the PGA Championship at Valhalla last August.
Dustin Johnson, who got caught on the wrong end of the draw in brutally windy conditions on Thursday and opened with a 78, equaled the low score of 68 in round three but was 11 strokes behind in a tie for 18th.
