HOUSTON — Jason Day was back in contention on the eve of the Masters after two eventful days alongside Phil Mickelson.

Winless in 2 1/2 years and fighting lingering back and neck problems, Day shot a 2-under 68 on Friday in the Houston Open to pull within two strokes of second-round leader Sam Burns at difficult Memorial Park.

The Australian watched the 50-year-old Michelson hit into the water twice en route to an 8 on the par-3 ninth, then hole out from 193 yards for eagle on the par-4 18th. Lefty missed the cut, following an opening 76 with a 73.

“He kind of left himself in some pretty tough positions and you’re just struggling the whole day,” Day said. “It’s one of those courses where you’ve just got to be patient and try to get your birdies when you can.”

Day had three birdies and a bogey.

“It’s one of those courses where you can walk off kind of shaking your head even though you play some good golf,” Day said. “I was chatting to Phil about that on the second hole today because he went out there and hit a nice 9-iron, pulled up short, rolled away off the green and you’ve got a 60-footer putting back up that hill. It’s one of those golf courses where it can be a little bit frustrating at times, so just got to kind of be smart about it.”

Day was in contention three weeks ago in Las Vegas in the CJ Cup when the neck problem forced him to withdraw early in the final round. The 12-time PGA Tour winner returned the next week at Sherwood to tie for 60th, and took last week off.

“It’s been very inconsistent, obviously, because I’m trying to change my swing a little bit just to try and help the back out,” Day said. “I guess I’m stuck in between patterns right now, what I want to feel, my body just won’t handle it and sometimes it just compensates elsewhere. That’s why it happened to my neck at CJ.”

Burns birdied all three par-5 holes in a bogey-free 65 to reach 7 under.“

It takes a lot of discipline around here,” Burns said. “You get out of position, you just try to get it back to where you can get it up-and-down or get it in a section of the green where you can lag putt it. Fortunately, early we got some good looks and I was able to convert, so solid.”

Winless on the PGA Tour, the 24-year-old Burns also took a two-shot lead into the weekend in the season-opening Safeway Championship in September. He ended up tying for seventh that week at Silverado.

“I think slowing down a little bit, really talking through the shot with Travis (caddie Perkins) and making sure we have a clear picture of what we’re trying to do,” Burns said. “I think that was really helpful to learn that.”

Carlos Ortiz of Mexico had a 68 to match Day at 5 under.

First-round leader Brandt Snedeker followed his opening 65 with a 71 to drop into a tie for fourth at 4 under with Dawie van der Walt (66), Aaron Wise (66) and Patton Kizzire (67).

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont. (67) also ended the round tied for fourth. Conners had four birdies and a bogey, improving his score and jumping twelve spots from Thursday.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., made it to the weekend, following an opening-round 70 with a 2-over 72.

David Hearn, from Brantford, Ont., (77) missed the plus-3 cutline, while Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., pulled out before the second round after a 6-over 76 on day one.

Top-ranked Dustin Johnson followed an opening 72 with a 66 to get to 2 under in his return after a positive coronavirus test knocked him out of the CJ Cup and Zozo Championship.

“It was very solid today,” Johnson said. “ I felt like I played pretty well yesterday, just a little rusty. … I swung it pretty well, just hit a couple bad iron shots. But I think that was more just from not trusting what I was doing, just from not being out there. But today did a lot better, hit a lot of really nice iron shots and felt like I managed my game very well, drove it well, hit a lot of quality shots.”

The tournament — at public Memorial Park for the first time since 1963 — is the first domestic PGA Tour event to have fans since March. Tickets are capped at 2,000 a day.

Brooks Koepka was 2 over after a 70 on the course where he served as a consultant on architect Tom Doak’s renovation. Koepka s playing for the second time since a two-month layoff to heal injuries.

Jordan Spieth, playing alongside Koepka, missed the cut with rounds of 73 and 71.

HOUSTON (AP) — Brandt Snedeker found a lot of fairways and greens at difficult Memorial Park, top-ranked Dustin Johnson returned from the coronavirus, and fans were back, too, Thursday at the Houston Open.

Snedeker shot a 5-under 65 in the afternoon to take a two-stroke lead in the last event before the Masters. He’s one of 37 players in the field this week set to play at Augusta National.

“Drove it great,” Snedeker said. “Around this golf course you have to be in the fairway, otherwise it’s going to be a long day for you. Did a great job of that. Made some putts. And the par 5s, birdied every par 5 out there. This course is a long, tough golf course, so to play well you need to take advantage of the scoring holes, which I did a great job of today.”

The tournament — at public Memorial Park for the first time since 1963 — is limiting ticket sales to 2,000 a day. It’s the first domestic PGA Tour event to have fans since The Players Championship on March 12.

“I think that’s a big reason why I played well today,” Snedeker said. “I love having fans out here. I kind of feed off their energy. It’s great to hear some claps and people excited for good shots and some birdies.”

Johnson had a 72 — bogeying five of the last seven holes on his front nine — in his return after a positive coronavirus test knocked him out of the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek and the Zozo Championship at Sherwood.

The 39-year-old Snedeker won the last of his nine PGA Tour titles in 2018. He followed a birdie on the par-4 13th with a bogey on the par-4 14th after driving into the right rough, then birdied the par-3 15th and par-5 16th.

“I’ve been driving it well, so it just kind of depended how I hit my irons and kind of hung in there,” Snedeker said. “Did a great job of kind of thinking my way around the golf course.”

Jason Day was tied for second with Scottie Scheffler, Harold Varner III, Carlos Ortiz, Michael Thompson and Cameron Davis.

“The golf course kind of forces you into being patient just because you can’t really miss too many greens,” Scheffler said. “Around the greens out here is very, very difficult to get up-and-down and you can get into some spots where you start playing ping pong across these greens.”

Corey Conners posted a score of 69 at the end of his first round, placing him in a tie for 16th and making him the highest scoring Canadian of the day. Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, On., trailed one point behind. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., shot a 3-over 73, while Graham DeLaet, from Weyburn, Sask., came in with a 6-over 76.

Brooks Koepka also had a 72. He’s playing for the second time since a two-month layoff to heal injuries. Player partner Lanto Griffin, the winner last year at Golf Club of Houston, also shot 72. Jordan Spieth rounded out the morning threesome with a 72.

“It certainly felt more normal as we were playing today and especially as we were finishing up,” Spieth said about the fans. “Just the look of it is way more normal than when it was just so bare.”

Koepka served as a consultant on course architect Tom Doak’s renovation.

“I think every time Jordan hit it in the water, he told me that was my fault,” Koepka said.

Phil Mickelson shot 76. He had two double bogeys and two bogeys.

SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — In the 20-plus years and more than 600 times Brian Gay has played on the PGA Tour, he realizes the game is still full of surprises.

Sunday was a big one.

Gay rallied from a three-shot deficit on the back nine, hit gap wedge to 3 feet for birdie on the 18th hole for a 7-under 64 and then beat Wyndham Clark on the first extra hole with a 12-foot birdie putt in the Bermuda Championship.

Since golf returned from the coronavirus-caused shutdown in June, the 48-year-old Gay was missing enthusiasm and putts, not a good combination for one of the shorter hitters in golf. He missed the cut in nine of his last 11 tournaments.

“Crazy game,” Gay said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

He piled up nine birdies over his last 14 holes, including one extra hole in a sudden-death playoff, for his fifth career PGA Tour title and his first in nearly eight years. Just over a year away from being able to join the PGA Tour Champions, Gay is now exempt through August 2023 because of his playoff victory over Clark.

He’ll be at Kapalua to start the new year. He’ll be back at Augusta National in April.

“I’ve always known I have the game to compete,” Gay said. “It easy to doubt yourself. The players are so good and so young. A lot of them are my daughter’s age.”

Gay was happy to see at least a limited number of fans at the Bermuda Championship as the PGA Tour slowly gets back to having some spectators. What he could have used was a video board to show him where he stood.

Only after he gunned a birdie putt some 5 feet by the hole for a three-putt bogey on the par-5 17th did he realize that cost him a share of the lead. On the closing hole at Port Royal, from a side hill lie with the ball slightly above his feet and the wind at his back, he hammered a gap wedge that was so good Gay could be heard saying, “Go in the hole.”

It settled 3 feet away for birdie to finish at 15-under 269.

In the final group behind him, Clark had a birdie putt that stopped a turn shot on the 17th. His approach to 18th was 10 feet behind the hole, and the birdie putt for the win just skirted the right edge. He made par for a 65 and a playoff.

Back to the 18th, Gay holed his birdie putt and Clark missed from about 7 feet, which would have extended the playoff.

“I’m pretty bummed,” Clark said. “I knew I had a one-shot lead. I thought I made that putt on 17 and same on 18. I had chances, I just didn’t capitalize.”

It was a lost opportunity for Clark, who birdied seven of his opening 11 holes to take a three-shot lead.

Gay, the 48-year-old who finished his final year of college at Florida six months after Clark was born, hit his best drive on the 14th hole — a tee shot that gave him fits in the opening round — that set up a 9-iron he converted for birdie. Then, he hit a gap wedge that took a big hop off the right side of the green to 4 feet for birdie to get within one.

Clark had not missed a green the entire final round until hitting into a bunker on the par-3 16th. He took a short back swing and barely got the ball out of the sand, and Clark did well to get up-and-down for bogey to tie for the lead.

Ollie Schniederjans, playing on a sponsor exemption, closed with a 66 and finished third, two shots out of the playoff. Denny McCarthy (63) and Stewart Cink (64) tied for fourth, along with Matt Jones and Doc Redman, who each shot 67.

Canadians David Hearn (Brantford, ON.) , Michael Gligic (Burlington, ON), and Roger Sloan (Merritt, B.C.) held on to their positions and finished the weekend in the top 20. Hearn and Gligic saved the best for last — they both posted a 66 on Sunday, climbing up three and four positions respectively. Hearn’s T8 finish makes him the top Canadian at the Bermuda Championship, with Gligic not far behind in a tie for 11th. Sloan shot a 68 in round 4, ending the weekend tied for 16th.

SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — Doc Redman found the wind far more manageable Saturday, and he took advantage with a 4-under 67 for a one-shot lead going into the final round of the Bermuda Championship.

The wind came out of the opposite direction as the previous day and it wasn’t quite as strong. It showed in the scores and in the number of opportunities for players who never won or have gone without winning in years.

Redman was at 10-under 203, one shot ahead of Ryan Armour (70), Wyndham Clark (70) and Kramer Hickok (69), who took three putts from a tough spot on the fringe on the 18th at Port Royal.

Another shot behind were Matt Jones (66), Brian Gay (67) and Ollie Schniederjans (69). Jones was bogey-free in the third round, which to him was as impressive as any of his five birdies.

Redman, the 2017 U.S. Amateur champion, is among 10 players separated by four shots who have never won on the PGA Tour. A victory Sunday comes with an invitation to the Masters next April.

“I feel like with the wind switching, it was a little easier,” Redman said. “And it was still really windy. But yesterday was incredible. We couldn’t have been far away from stopping play yesterday. That made it a little easier. And the greens roll great, so if you have looks at it you can make birdies.”

Redman still was mindful of the wind, particularly on the par-5 17th when he made decisions to play short off the tee because of the strong left-to-right wind off the Atlantic Ocean and potential problems it could have created.

The wind also made it tough on Armour, the 44-year-old from Ohio who picked the wrong day to not be swinging his best. What saved him was a short game that enabled him to break par for the third straight da and to stay very much in the mix to win on Sunday.

“I’m going to have to go figure out what was going on,” Armour said. “Toward the end there, I started hitting the centre of the face a little more. As you know, when the winds are this high, you’ve got to hit in the centre or else it’s going to get blown all over.”

He took a little off a pitching wedge for a beautiful third shot just below the pin for birdie on the par-5 17th, and he narrowly missed a 15-footer on the 18th that would have given him a share of the lead.

Jones is used to windy conditions from his roots in Australia, and he handled it well. He will be going for his first PGA Tour victory since the 2014 Houston Open, although Jones won the Australian Open at the end of last year, and that tournament had a stronger field than what he’s facing in Bermuda.

Gay, 48, whose putting stroke atones for his lack of power, has not won since 2013. He was long enough on the 507-yard 17th to make eagle to cap off his 67 and put him in prime position.

Three Canadian players occupy spots in the top 20 going into the final day in Bermuda, with David Hearn (67) of Brantford, Ont. reaching the highest rank — he is currently tied for 11th at 6 under. Michael Gligic (69) of Burlington, Ont., and Roger Sloan (71) of Merritt, B.C., were tied for 15th at 5 under. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., missed the cut on Friday.

The only player from the top 50 in the world was defending champion Brendon Todd, who missed the cut.

The oldest player in the field, 64-year-old Fred Funk, didn’t fare so well. He shot 75 and was 13 shots behind.

SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — Ryan Armour and Wyndham Clark survived ferocious wind Friday in the Bermuda Championship to share the lead going into a weekend that includes 64-year-old Fred Funk.

Armour could only guess where the 30 mph gusts would blow his golf ball across Port Royal. The 44-year-old from Ohio still managed three early birdies and another on the par-5 17th for a 1-under 70. Clark played in the afternoon and reached 10-under par until a pair of late bogeys for a 68.

They were at 8-under 134, one shot ahead of Kramer Hickok (68).

The big surprise was Funk, who only played because he had a chance to be paired with his son, Taylor, who played at Texas. Funk, whose last PGA Tour victory was in 2007 at the Mayakoba Classic, chipped in for birdie from the behind the ninth green for a 72, and his son was so excited he about knocked him to the ground in celebration.

“This guy is pretty damn good for an old guy,” said Taylor, who shot an 81, one of nine players who shot in the 80s on the windswept day in Bermuda.

“He fought back and he made the cut, and not many 64-year-olds can do that in the world,” he said. “It was fun to watch him play.”

Funk is the oldest player to make the cut on the PGA Tour since 65-year-old Tom Watson five years ago in the RBC Heritage at Hilton. The only other players 64 or older to make the cut since 1970 were Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead.

“And then Funk. You throw that in there, it doesn’t sound right, does it?” Fred Funk said. “I don’t know whether I compete, but making the cut was big.”

It wasn’t easy on a day like this, where the wind was so strong it was difficult to stand up, especially on some of the holes along the ocean.

“Today was really hard,” Armour said. “We didn’t know whether to say get up, get down, what to tell it. We couldn’t judge the distance very well and we had some balls going sideways out there and my ball doesn’t usually go sideways. And it would just get up in the wind and it would go 20 yards further left or right than you wanted it to.”

That made the performance by Clark even more remarkable, although the wind finally caught up with him when he took bogeys on the par-5 seventh and the par-3 eighth to fall back into a tie with Armour.

Clark wasn’t caught up in the late bogeys, especially the last one.

“We all were hitting 6- and 5-irons into a par 3 from 160, and I missed about a 5-footer,” Clark said. “It’s bound to happen. If I didn’t bogey those, it would be one of the best rounds of my career. But it’s pretty hard to play a round with 30 mph wind and not make any bogeys.

“I’m not looking at those last two bogeys,” he said. “I’m up there in contention, and that’s all that matters.”

Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., is the top Canadian, three shots back at 5 under (70). He currently sits at T6, up 9 spots from Thursday. Michael Gligic, from Burlington, Ont., (71) is 3 under, David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., (72) is 2 under, while Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., fired a 6-over 77 and will miss the cut.

The best round of the day belonged to Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who not only shot 66, he played bogey-free. He was three shots behind, while Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington used all his Irish experience with wind for a 71 — two birdies, two bogeys, 14 pars — and was four shots behind.

The day also brought a few surprising turns — defending champion Brendon Todd, the only player from the top 50 in the world at the Bermuda Championship, missed the cut, and former British Open champion Henrik Stenson withdrew before the start of the second round with a foot injury.

SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — Peter Malnati saw his infant son at a PGA Tour event for the first time since the pandemic, which brought a smile to his face and another birdie on his card for an 8-under 63 and a one-shot lead Thursday in the Bermuda Championship.

The tournament is the first to allow limited fans — no more than 500 a day at Port Royal — since the opening round of The Players Championship on March 12.

The final birdie was the ninth of the round for Malnati, who has gone from the South to the West to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and keeps playing some of his best golf.

It was the third time in his last three events he posted a 63 or lower. Malnati was runner-up at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi and followed that with a tie for fifth in Las Vegas.

This round gave him a one-shot lead over Ryan Armour and Doug Ghim, who birdied his last two holes.

“With everything in the world right now — and this island is doing a phenomenal job with their testing protocol and keeping everyone safe — I just didn’t know if it was actually going to work for them to get out here,” Malnati said of about his wife and 1-year-old son. “So coming off that disappointing bogey on 17, I hit a nice drive on 18 and before I even get my yardage or anything, I see my wife and boy standing out there.”

“It just brought a huge smile to my face,” he said. “To see them and then to finish with that birdie, I’m a happy man.”

Malnati ran off five straight birdies starting with No. 9, and he was looking to finish strong. Among the shorter hitters in the modern power game, he had made up his mind to take on the bunkers down the right side of the par-5 17th hole and turn it into an easy birdie.

Instead, he turned it left into the water for a penalty stroke and made bogey.

“So that stunk,” he said. “But how can I complain about much? We’re on the island of Bermuda and I sure played great.”

Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., shot a 4-under 67 and is the top Canadian after round one, currently sitting in a tie for 15th.

David Hearn of Brampton, Ont was one shot behind, posting a 3-under 68 and tying with Burlington, Ont. born Michael Gligic for 26th. Fellow Canadian Graham De Laet of Weyburn, Sask., was 3-over par.

The Bermuda Championship matches the weakest field of the year on the PGA Tour, though it receives full status this year because the HSBC Champions in Shanghai was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning Bermuda is not the same week as a World Golf Championship. The winner receives an invitation to the Masters next year.

It also is the start of consecutive PGA Tour events allowing limited fans. The Houston Open has said it will sell no more than 2,000 ticket a day. The Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, the first event on 2021, also announced this week it would limited fans.

Doc Redman, Vaughn Taylor and Chase Seiffert were at 65, while Hunter Mahan was in the group at 66. It was Mahan’s lowest opening round in more than two years.

Three-time major champion and Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington opened with a 67. Harrington won at Port Royal in 2013 in the final stages of the course hosting the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.

Fred Funk, the 64-year-old regular on the PGA Tour Championship, shot 69. He played in the same group as his son, Taylor Funk, who shot a 73.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Nick Taylor has never been to the Masters. He already is motivated to get back.

Taylor is excited to be playing Augusta National in two weeks, make no mistake about that. The 32-year-old Canadian has only watched on television, often enough to have a good idea what to expect. And that’s what tempers some of the anticipation about his Masters debut.

He has seen it enough to know what he’ll be missing.

“When I won, you think of the Masters and what it’s going to be,” Taylor said. “And it’s not going to be that.”

No spring colours from the dogwoods and azaleas. The Par 3 Contest has been cancelled. The patrons will be at home, the same place Taylor has been all these years. That means no roars that echo through Georgia pines, as much a part of Masters lore as the green jacket.

For those who think Augusta National is the cathedral of golf, it probably will sound like one. The Masters without roars? That’s like having the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade without balloons.

Taylor is among 26 newcomers to the Masters, postponed from the first full week of April to Nov. 12-15 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nine of those players, such as PGA champion Collin Morikawa, already have secured spots for the next Masters, presumably in April.

There is no guarantee when the others will return, if they ever do.

Taylor won as a rookie in 2014 at the Sanderson Farms Championship when it was held the same week as the World Golf Championship in Shanghai and did not come with a Masters invitation. He finally earned his invitation in February, playing with five-time champion Phil Mickelson at Pebble Beach and posting a 70 in blustery conditions to win by four.

“To get that invite for the Masters, that’s a tournament I’ve dreamt about playing my entire life,” Taylor said that day.

Just over a month later, the pandemic shut down golf. The Masters was postponed until November. Then came the announcement in August that it would be held without fans.

The anticipation is different now from what it was in February.

“I was two months away from all the perks, maybe going before (the Masters) to see it,” Taylor said. “Now all the news we’ve heard about it is a downer. No fans. No Par 3. It’s hard to compare. It’s not that I’m not excited, but certain aspects make it a special week, especially having never been there before. To not have those only makes me want to go back.”

Taylor is thankful to be playing again, like so many others. This is the 21st consecutive week of PGA Tour golf, with no shutdown, no slashing of prize money and no fans, no energy. For a sport that sees something new every week – Winged Foot, Shadow Creek, Port Royal this week in Bermuda – there is a sameness to each week without anyone watching.

And now the Masters.

“It’s easy to get negative about what’s going on the world,” he said. “But we’re playing golf. The reality check when we’re out there is how fortunate we are. We have our jobs. Everyone in my bubble is healthy. But when you think about what could have been at the Masters, it can get disappointing.”

Tyler Duncan knows the feeling.

He won the RSM Classic at Sea Island last November, beating Webb Simpson in a playoff, and he received his formal Masters invitation in the mail soon after.

When the Florida swing arrived, Duncan called the club and arranged for a practice round at Augusta National. His plan was to go there on the Monday after The Players Championship.

Golf shut down on Friday of The Players.

“That didn’t work out,” Duncan said with a wry smile. “And then the course is shut down all summer. Now they’re trying to limit play, and you have to play with a member. I’ve been trying to do that but haven’t had a whole lot of success. We’ll show up and figure it out from there.”

Asked what he think he would miss the most, the azaleas or the noise, Duncan didn’t hesitate.

“The noise, for sure,” he said. “I’ve watched it so many times. A lot of shots come to mind, and you think of that. But you hear all the roars on the back nine where the tournament is won.”

He doesn’t know anything about Washington Road. He didn’t even know John Daly sold merchandise from an RV parked outside Hooters. Duncan won’t know all he’s missing.

“It’s still the Masters,” he said. “It’s a tournament everyone dreams of playing.”

Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player will be hitting the ceremonial tee shot without people standing a dozen deep around the tee trying to hear what they say. The starter will announce each player with that familiar, “Fore, please.” There’s still a green jacket everyone covets.

But it won’t be the same. It won’t sound the same.

They’re still going to the Masters. And then the goal is to come back to experience the real Masters.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Patrick Cantlay rallied from four shots behind and got far enough ahead that Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas couldn’t quite catch him Sunday in the Zozo Championship at Sherwood.

Cantlay closed with a 7-under 65 for a one-shot victory, the third of his career, and first in his home state of California. All three required making up a deficit of three shots or more.

As much as Cantlay celebrated a victory he felt was overdue, Rahm and Thomas were left to rue their mistakes.

Rahm took the lead with a birdie on the par-5 11th, only to drop shots on each of the next two holes, including the par-5 13th. The Spaniard had a chance to force a playoff, but narrowly missed from 15 feet on the par-3 17th and from 20 feet on the final hole. He shot 68.

Thomas, who started the round with a one-shot lead, had to scramble for par on the last two par 5s, and hit into hazards on consecutive holes down the stretch. His tee shot to a front pin on the par-3 15th plugged into thick grass, and Thomas did remarkably well to hack out to 30 feet and make bogey.

Cantlay, in the group ahead of Thomas and Rahm, bungled the par-5 16th by missing the green from 114 yards and making only his second bogey of the round, and the tournament. That reduced his lead to two shots.

Thomas drilled a drive and was in perfect position with a 4-iron. But he sent that out to the right, trying to avoid a shot left of the green, and it bounced off a tree and into the creek. After the penalty drop, he had to play a marvelous pitch-and-run off hard pan to get up-and-down for par.

But he needed birdies, and that didn’t come for Thomas until he needed to hole out from the 18th fairway for eagle. His approach landed 4 feet next to the hole. The birdie gave him a 69, and denied Rahm a small consolation. Rahm needed to finish second alone to return to No. 1 in the world.

Dustin Johnson, a Sherwood member who missed this week recovering from a positive coronavirus test, remains No. 1.

Cantlay moved back into the top 10. He has no weakness in his game except for the victory tally. Cantlay had gone more than a year since his last victory, when he rallied from three behind at Muirfield Village to win the Memorial. His other win was in Las Vegas in 2017 when he came from four shots back and won in a playoff.

At a tournament with low scoring, he had no choice but to produce his best of the week. Cantlay opened with four birdies in six holes to get in the mix, and he surged into the lead with four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the front nine.

The final birdie was the toughest, a 7-iron he hit at three-quarter speed that landed right next to the hole and rolled out to 10 feet for his third straight birdie.

Thomas and Rahm provided some help on the par-5 13th. Thomas went from thick rough to more thick rough and still had 189 yards for his third shot, and he ended up making a tough par save from the collection area behind the green. Rahm was in the fairway and in range, but he came up well short into a bunker, left that short of the green and missed an 8-foot par.

No one else was within four shots of Cantlay.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., continued his ascent and finished strong, ending the weekend in a tie for 8th after shooting 66. Canadian Mackenzie Hughes (Dundas, Ont.) finished in a tie for 41st, while Nick Taylor (Abbotsford, B.C.) and Adam Hadwin (Abbotsford, B.C.) both tied for 63rd.

The other show at Sherwood was on the opposite side of the course, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson playing together in the final round with no fans. There was nothing to see, anyway.

Woods closed with a 74 and still beat Mickelson by four shots. Mickelson, coming off a victory last week on the PGA Tour Champions, had five 6s on his card. Both finished out of the top 70 against a 78-man field.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — With one good break and two good putts, Justin Thomas felt much better about his round of 5-under 67 on Saturday that gave him a one-shot lead over Jon Rahm in the Zozo Championship at Sherwood.

Thomas, who trailed by as many as two shots on the back nine, hit driver on the par-5 16th that clanged off a sycamore tree and dropped into the rough instead of he creek. He holed a 10-foot birdie putt to tie for the lead, and then followed with a 30-foot birdie putt up the slope on the par-3 17th.

Rahm finished some two hours earlier with a 63, which he figured at least would get him close to the lead and nearly kept him at the top until Thomas finished strong.

Lanto Griffin was leading the Nos. 2 and 3 players in the world until making two bogeys over the last four holes, one in the water on the par-3 15th, the other by going rough-to-rough on the closing hole.

Thomas was at 19-under 197 in another week of low scoring on the PGA Tour, at least for most players. It was another grind for Tiger Woods, the Zozo Championship winner last year in Japan, who could only manage a 71.

That led to what figures to be the greatest illustration of the strange times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Woods will be playing the final round with Phil Mickelson, the top two attractions in golf, and there won’t be any fans on the course to watch them.

Mickelson opened with seven birdies in eight holes, and played the rest of the way in 2 over for a 67.

It will be the ninth time they play together in the final round on the PGA Tour, and the first time they have no bearing on the outcome. They were 16 shots out of the lead. The first time they played together on a Sunday was at the 1997 PGA Championship when they were eight shots behind and each shot 75,

Thomas is going for his third victory this year. Rahm may return to No. 1 in the world and Griffin is equally intriguing. He won his first PGA Tour title last year in Houston and showed for much of Saturday that he doesn’t get caught in the weeds. Plus, his putting stroke has been pure all week.

Griffin opened with four straight birdies to take the lead, and he stayed there until the end of the round. He went to 19 under with a 15-foot birdie on the 14th hole — two clear of Thomas at that point — when his tee shot took on the flag on the right side of the green at the 15th and drifted too far right and into the hazard.

Instead of going to the drop zone, he went to a different set of tees that allowed for a full swing and better control, dropped that wedge into 20 feet and made the putt to escape with bogey.

Thomas was playing well enough, even if he had little to show for it after opening with two birdies. In trouble off the tee on the par-5 13th, he chose to drop on the cement cart path and hit a hard draw — without damaging his club — back into the fairway. But then he didn’t take advantage by hitting a mediocre wedge to the fringe to set up par.

And when Griffin holed his birdie putt on the 14th, Thomas missed badly from just inside him.

But it changed quickly with those two birdies on the 16th and 17th, and he was right back where he started the day.

Patrick Cantlay didn’t get much out of his round either, but he kept bogeys off his card for the third straight day. He was three shots behind, along with Sebastian Munoz and Ryan Palmer, who each had 66.

Canadian Corey Conners continued his upward trajectory as the top Canadian so far, closing in a tie for 20th with a 4-under 68. Fellow Canadians Mackenzie Hughes (Dundas, ON.), Nick Taylor (Winnipeg, MB) , and Adam Hadwin (Moose Jaw, SK) closed the day in ties for 36th, 48th, and 64th respectively.

Webb Simpson (67) and Bubba Watson (68) were among those four shots behind.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The Houston Open will be the first domestic PGA Tour event to have fans, and that might be enough to send Phil Mickelson elsewhere in his final tournament before the Masters.

Mickelson typically plays the week before the Masters, and he was planning on being at the Houston Open. The tournament announced last week that 2,000 tickets a day would go on sale starting Wednesday.

The Houston Open is Nov. 5-8 at Memorial Park. That’s the same week as the 54-hole Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix on the PGA Tour Champions. Mickelson has won both his starts on the 50-and-over circuit.

“I think that they will do a very good, safe job in having 2,000 people at the Houston Open,” Mickelson said Wednesday at the Zozo Championship at Sherwood. “However, for me personally, I don’t like the risk of having that happen the week before the Masters. I just feel like the week before the Masters, that’s a big tournament we have and I just don’t want to have any risk heading in there. So it has made me question whether or not I’ll play there.”

Mickelson said if the Charles Schwab Cup Championship also has limited spectators, he probably would go to Houston.

“If Phoenix does not have people, I’ll probably go there, to be honest,” he said.

The plan for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, held at Phoenix Country Club, is to be limited to 350 members who will have access only to a private area in the clubhouse. They can watch on the course, with no area to congregate, and walking corridors are being widened. Members will have temperature checks each day and must wear masks at all times.

The Houston Open said spectators must have masks on at all times at Memorial Park except when eating or drinking. It has yet to announce specific guidelines for spectators.

The USGA announced the U.S. Women’s Open will not have spectators at Champions Golf Club in Houston. The Women’s Open is Dec. 10-13, a month after the Houston Open.

“Following extensive consultation with health officials, we have decided that hosting the U.S. Women’s Open without spectators will provide the best opportunity to conduct the championship safely for all involved,” said John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s senior managing director of championships.

Dustin Johnson, who has withdrawn from the last two PGA Tour events after the world’s No. 1 player tested positive for the coronavirus, is scheduled to return at the Houston Open. After self-isolating for 10 days, Johnson does not have to be tested again for three months under CDC guidelines the PGA Tour has adopted.

Brooks Koepka also has said he’s playing Houston, while Tiger Woods said Tuesday he has not decided whether to play the week before the Masters for the first time in his pro career.

Mickelson said the PGA Tour has done remarkably well in its return from the COVID-19 shutdown, and he’s confident the Houston Open will have a safe environment.

“But because I haven’t seen it before, because it’s the first one out on the tour with some people, I’m unsure and I don’t want to take any unnecessary risks,” Mickelson said.

Johnson last week was the 12th player to test positive at a PGA Tour event. Mickelson says players, caddie and the rest of essential personnel who face weekly testing at tournament sites have been accountable in how they operate and where they go amid a pandemic.

What concerns him the most, especially with the coronavirus test he faces at Augusta National, is false positives.

“That’s the scare,” Mickelson said. “Because I know that I’ve been able to stay safe, that my circle … has been safe, so we’ve made all those precautions. But the false positives is the thing that scares me.”