PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Mackenzie Hughes (68) of Dundas, Ont., and Adam Hadwin (71) of Abbotsford, B.C., were tied for 33rd at 5-under after todays round at the Players Championship.

Webb Simpson isn’t aware of the records he has tied or broken at The Players Championship. He saw that Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth each made a big charge before he teed off Saturday, and it didn’t rattle him at all.

“I think it helped me a little bit continue to think about making birdies,” he said.

Simpson had a plan and didn’t back off until he holed an 18-foot par on the final hole for a 4-under 68. He stretched his lead to a record seven shots, tied Greg Norman’s 54-hole score at The Players that had not been touched in 24 years and left himself one more round to capture the richest prize in golf.

Simpson started with an 8-foot birdie. He holed a 100-foot bunker shot for eagle.

And that island green on the par-3 17th that ruined his bid for the record score at the TPC Sawgrass the previous day? With a front pin in the bowl, he hit sand wedge and listened to thousands of fans surrounding the green cheer as the ball trickled down the slope to 3 feet for birdie.

It added to a 19-under 197, the score Norman had after three rounds in 1994 on a rain-softened course.

And the 32-year-old Simpson has history on his side: No one has ever lost a seven-shot lead in the final round in PGA Tour history.

“All those things that have happened, I’d love to know them if I win tomorrow,” Simpson said. “But I’m trying not to dwell there. I’m trying to just look forward, do what I always do on a Saturday night of a golf tournament and get ready tomorrow morning. And that’s kind of where I’m at.”

Danny Lee was leading the B-Flight with a bogey-free round of 70, but with birdies only on the two par 5s on the back nine. He will be in the final group.

“Just got to keep my hat down and play my own game and … I don’t know, where is he at?” Lee asked. Told that Simpson was 19 under, Lee digested that and responded, “That’s an impressive three rounds, I think. It’s going very, very well for him.”

Woods had his best round on the Stadium Course with a 65 despite playing the final six holes in 1 over. Spieth made two bogeys in his round of 65 as both charged up the leaderboard in the morning with big crowds and loud cheers.

They went from a tie for 68th to a tie for ninth. But they made up only three shots on Simpson and were 11 shots behind.

Dustin Johnson at least improved his chances of staying for No. 1 with four birdies over his final 10 holes for a 69. He was in third place, nine shots behind and figured all he could do Sunday was go as low as he could and see where it led.

Johnson is among six players to lose a six-shot lead in the final round, last fall in Shanghai. And with danger lurking at every corner on the Pete Dye-designed Stadium Course, that would suggest that the crystal and largest paycheque in golf – just shy of $2 million – doesn’t belong to Simpson just yet.

He just hasn’t shown any signs of cracking.

Lee was at 204, a score that would have led The Players in all but three of the years since it moved to May in 2007.

“If you take Webb out of the equation, the golf course is playing about like it always does,” Johnson said. “He’s the only one that’s going really low.”

Jason Day, among those at 9-under 207, had a four-shot lead when he won The Players two years ago. He knows what it’s like to play with big leads, to win big.

“The good thing about Webb is he’s played well, he doesn’t have to do too much out there, he has to keep it in front of him,” Day said. “Don’t take unnecessary risk and just kind of shoot 72 or somewhere in between 70, 72. You don’t really need to go into the 60s.”

Simpson hasn’t won since Las Vegas in the fall of 2013, most of that due to struggles with the ban on the anchored stroke he used with his belly putter. The big break came a year ago when Tim Clark suggested that along with a putter grip that rested along his left forearm, he use a claw grip.

“I’m thankful that I’ve put together a year of pretty solid putting, and it’s really helped my golf kind of get me to the player that I want to be,” Simpson said.

For one morning, Woods created the biggest buzz of the week.

He ran off four birdies in five holes at the start of his round, made the turn in 30 and then added a two-putt birdie at No. 11 and a pitch to 8 feet on the short 12th. He was in range of the course record that eluded Simpson on Saturday. Woods didn’t do anything spectacularly wrong the rest of the way, he just didn’t convert and dropped his lone shot on the 14th with a drive into thick rough that kept him from reaching the green.

“Eventually I was going to put all the pieces together and today, for the most part, I did that,” Woods said.

It was his lowest round on the PGA Tour since a 65 in the second round of the Wyndham Championship at the end of the 2015 regular season. That was a month before he was sidelined with three more back surgeries. He played only one PGA Tour event since then until returning this year.

But this is Simpson’s show until further notice.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., is the top Canadian through two rounds, sitting in a tie for 34th at 4-under at the Players Championship. He shot a 68 on the day. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., shot a 67 and Nick Taylor, who also hails from Abbotsford, had a round of 74 and are both tied for 68th.

Webb Simpson didn’t miss anything except the island green. On the verge of shattering the course record Friday at the TPC Sawgrass – even a 59 was in play – Simpson hit sand wedge into the water on the notorious par-3 17th and made double bogey that ruined his round, but not his day at The Players Championship. He still tied the record with a 9-under 63, and he had a five-shot lead, the largest in the 45 years of this tournament.

“It wasn’t a mistake,” Simpson said. “Just the wrong club.”

He was in no mood to let that sour his mood. Simpson simply couldn’t miss, whether it was a 35-foot eagle putt on his second hole or a 30-foot birdie putt up the slope and into the cup on the 15th . At that point, all he could was laugh.

And then he reached the 17th, playing 147 yards to a back pin, the light wind playing tricks with him. He kept backing off, trying to decide between sand wedge and pitching wedge. He said a few fans were telling him to hit it.

The ball hit the wooden frame on the front of the green, caromed high in the air and landed on the back of the green with so much momentum that it rolled through the light collar of rough and disappeared into the water.

“Everything is going in,” he said. “You feel like no matter what, you’re going to make it, and I grew up on an easy golf course so it reminded me of being back home, shooting low numbers. But at the same time, you’re at the TPC Sawgrass, so you know that trouble is everywhere, as you guys saw with me on 17.”

And it will be there over the next two rounds.

Simpson was the seventh player to shoot 63 on the Stadium Course – five since 2013 – and his 15-under 129 tied the 36-hole record set two years ago by Jason Day.

Charl Schwartzel (66), Patrick Cantlay (68) and Danny Lee (66) were five shots behind.

Tiger Woods at least gets to return on the weekend. He made the cut on the number (1-under 143) after a 71 in the easier morning conditions. Woods was outside the cut line until Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas each made bogey on the 18th. Spieth three-putted from 35 feet, though he shot 68 and ended three straight years missing the cut. Rory McIlroy wasn’t so fortunate. He was inside the cut line until hitting into the water on the 17th and making double bogey.

Conditions were ideal for scoring for the second straight day. Simpson took that to another level.

He ended the front nine with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 ninth for a one-shot lead, and then he took off. Starting with an up-and-down at the par-5 11th, Simpson ran off six straight birdies – three straight from the 20-foot range, the most unlikely birdie with the one from behind the 15th green, and another up-and-down from left the of the green on the par-5 16th.

Spieth was 5 under on his round through 11 holes and wondered if he had the low round of the day. And then he saw a leaderboard.

“It was just amazing,” said Spieth, who played with McIlroy and Thomas. “We were talking about it throughout the round, all three of us. We were like, ‘Man, I hope he shoots 59.’ And at the same time, we’re saying if he shoots 59, can you imagine how hard the setup is going to be tomorrow?”

The real challenge will be catching Simpson.

Only three other players have led by as many as three shots through 36 holes at The Players – Lanny Wadkins (3) in 1979, Greg Norman (3) in 1994 and Day (4) in 2016. All of them went on to win.

“If you’re off a little bit, you make bogeys or double bogeys as easy as you can make birdies,” Simpson said. “I don’t think any lead is safe. … There’s no defensiveness in my game tomorrow.”

Schwartzel never came close to a bogey, only missing two greens, and just barely. Cantlay only had one bad swing and one bad break, both on the par-5 ninth, that led to bogey. Lee shot a 31 on the back nine with a double bogey on the 11th hole.

Simpson left them all in his wake.

“The most entertaining golf in our group was watching Webb’s score,” said Justin Rose, who played behind Simpson and shot 72. “It’s a miracle round. To be 11-under par, it’s a shame he doesn’t finish it off. But 17 is a hard hole to get through. I’m sure he was nervous playing that hole. We’re all nervous playing that hole, but an 11-under par round, that green I’m sure looks even smaller.”

Woods had wedges in his hand on his opening three holes and never got it close for birdie, and it was like that all day. He was in the feature pairing with Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler, and Woods was the only one to make the cut.

Mickelson went 79-73 and missed the cut for the fifth time in the last six years. Fowler was in good shape until losing a ball in a tree on the sixth hole for the first of consecutive double bogeys. He shot 71 and missed by two shots.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Canada’s Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., is tied for 22nd at the Players Championship after opening with a 3-under 69 on Thursday. The 30-year-old’s round was highlighted by a stretch of five birdies through six holes on the back nine at TPC Sawgrass.

Canadian Adam Hadwin, also of Abbotsford, recorded an even-par 72. Fellow countryman Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., struggled out of the gate with a 4-over 76.

Phil Mickelson was all dressed up for his first PGA Tour pairing with Tiger Woods in five years, wearing a long-sleeved, button-down shirt in 85-degree heat.

He might be hesitant to put it on again.

Mickelson shot a 7-over 79 in the opening round, his worst score at TPC Sawgrass since 2000. Woods (72) wasn’t a whole lot better on a day when 68 guys were under par.

The mega pairing turned out to be a mega dud.

Mickelson and Woods, along with Rickie Fowler (74), drew huge crowds as the featured group at the Stadium Course. Their golf didn’t match the hype.

The threesome delivered so few highlights that Mickelson’s shirt was the talk of the town for much of the afternoon.

“I actually really like it,” said Mickelson, who is brand ambassador and equity holder in the menswear brand Mizzen and Main. “I think nobody does kind of slightly overweight, middle-aged guy better than me, and this says exactly who I am. I don’t know what to say. I’m really happy with it.”

Those in the galleries had mixed reviews.

“He must have a meeting after this,” one fan said at the famed 17th hole. “Yeah, at a used car lot,” added another.

He got a lot of “love the sleeves” and “love the button-down” during the round. Some of those seemed a little tongue-in-cheek, too.

Regardless, the real problem was his play.

Mickelson hit two balls in the water and found eight bunkers, poor shots that made scoring tough. He said the bigger issue was a lack of energy.

“I knew it was going to be a concern this week,” said Mickelson, who finished tied for fifth last week at the Wells Fargo Championship. “I knew that I was going to have issues late in the day. I tried to offset it this week by taking it easy, not doing too much, and tried to eat right, tried to do all the right things to hopefully not have it be an issue.

“But I was concerned that that was going to be the case, and it was.”

Mickelson really struggled on the back nine, shooting 7 over during a four-hole stretch.

“I just kind of ran out at the end,” he said. “I had a lot of fun, enjoyed being with the guys. I just had a poor finish, 7-over the last five. That’s the day.”

It might be his tournament, too.

Barring a significant turnaround Friday, Lefty will miss the cut at the Players for the fifth time in the last six years.

Woods is in much better shape thanks to an eagle on the par-5 ninth, two par saves on the back and a bogey that could have been worse at No. 18.

Woods reached the par-5 ninth, which was playing downwind, in two and made a 20-footer that got him back to even at the turn.

“Boy, it was nice to turn the round completely around there,” he said.

Woods made an 8-footer to save par at No. 10 and a 15-footer at the 14th. He knew the one on the No. 14 was good, delivering his classic fist pump as the ball neared the hole.

His final putt was equally clutch. After hooking an iron off the tee into the water, Woods took a penalty drop and flew the green from 270 yards out. His chip came up short, but he drained a 10-footer to end the day at even par.

“I knew I was going to drop a shot, but didn’t want to shoot an over-par round,” Woods said. “I was playing better than that. So it was nice to make that putt.”

Woods said the warm temperatures caused balls to carry longer than he expected, often leaving him on the wrong side of pins.

Playing with Mickelson had fans craning for views and snapping pictures all afternoon. Well, most of the afternoon anyway. The massive crowd thinned out on the back nine before picking back up at 16, 17 and 18 – the most raucous holes at the Stadium Course.

“They were into it early,” Woods said. “Towards the back nine it started getting a little sparse. I think they might have tipped back a couple and got a little sleepy.”

Parings are available online here.

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AVONDALE, La. – When Scott Piercy tried to deflect credit to Billy Horschel for their nerve-testing, one-shot victory in the Zurich Classic team event, Horschel grinned and went with it.

“I’d like to thank myself for playing well this week,” Horschel began with a laugh. “No, it was great to play with Scott. Our games match up well. We are really good ball-strikers. We think the same way. … I don’t have to worry about him making a bad decision.”

Playing in the same group as Jason Dufner and Pat Perez – who trailed by a mere stroke for the final seven holes – Horschel and Piercy calmly executed one pressure-packed shot after another Sunday, closing with a bogey-free 5-under 67 in alternate shot play that was just good enough.

“All four of us are really great friends. We were chatting it up the entire day– toward the end of the round, a little less,” Horschel said. “You’re going to be anxious, nervous. You’re heart’s going to be racing a little bit, but that says you’re alive. It says you’re alive and in the spot you want to be.”

Horschel became a two-time winner at TPC Louisiana. He captured his maiden PGA TOUR triumph at the 2013 Zurich Classic when it was a traditional every-man-for-himself event. His popularity with the crowd was evident with the ovation he receiving approaching the 18th green. He said he loves New Orleans and has close friends in the city.

“I just feel at home here,” Horschel said. “Maybe I should look into buying a house here, but what are the state income taxes? That’s the issue.”

Especially if he keeps playing the way he has lately, having finished tied for fifth at the RBC Heritage two weeks earlier.

Horschel and Piercy surged into the lead with birdies on the 10th and 11th holes. They followed that with seven straight pars. After Horschel narrowly missed a 23-foot birdie putt on 18 that was reminiscent of the one he sank to win on the same green five years ago, Dufner stood over a 14-foot putt for the tie. He left it a foot short.

“Last putt, I didn’t get aggressive with it. Just didn’t quite get speed matched up like I wanted to,” Dufner said before complimenting Horschel on Piercy on how hard they were to chase down. “They didn’t lose a tee all day – and that’s pretty tough in alternate shot.”

Canadian David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., and Irish partner Seamus Power shot a 68 to tie for 10th. For Hearn, the finish comes one week after earning a T16 result at the Valero Texas Open. The strong back-to-back performances bode well for Hearn’s FedEx Cup standings and PGA TOUR status for 2019 – he currently sits at No. 139.

This was the second year of the Zurich’s switch to a two-player team format.

The victory was Horschel’s fifth and Piercy’s fourth. They each earned $1.04 million and 400 FedExCup points.

The result did not count toward the world ranking.

A year ago, the Zurich format called for best-ball play in the second and final rounds, with alternate-shot on the first and third. But organizers decided this year to flip that so the final round would have the alternate-shot format, with one player hitting the tee shots on even-numbered holes and the other on odd numbers. That set the stage for substantial moves up or down the leaderboard; players had less margin for error and no choice but the play the lies their teammates left them on the previous shot.

Horschel liked the change because “the better players, the better teams obviously are going to rise on Sunday. It’s a lot more volatility. … I felt the way we played – how good of ball-strikers we are – I felt like we could really make up a lot of ground.”

Horschel and Piercy began the day three shots back, but immediately surged into contention with birdies on the first two holes.

Piercy’s 146-yard approach set up Horschel’s 5-foot birdie putt on the opening hole. On the par-5 second hole, Piercy chipped to 4 feet to set up Horschel for birdie again.

Horschel returned the favour on the par-5 seventh with a chip to 3 feet and did even better on the 10th, dropping a 148-yard approach shot a foot from the hole.

Horschel’s 88-foot wedge out of a greenside bunker stopped less than 2 feet from the hole on the par-5 11th to set up his team’s final birdie.

“With Billy’s course knowledge and comfort level here, I just had to do a little bit and he could kind of take over,” Piercy said.

Heading into the final round, Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown, the 2017 runners-up in a playoff, topped a crowded leaderboard that featured 13 teams within four shots of the lead. By the time the top five teams had all reached the back nine, they were all within two shots of one another.

This time, Kisner and Brown faded on the back nine with three bogeys and one double-bogey, and tied for 15th at 15 under.

The team of Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel finished third at 20 under. Tied for fourth at 19 under were the teams of Tommy Fleetwood and Chris Paisley, and Brice Garnett and Chesson Hadley.

Garnett and Hadley began the day two shots back but briefly led after four birdies on the front nine. However, they bogeyed the par-4 13th when they struggled with a massive fairway bunker on the Pete Dye-designed course, and also bogeyed the par-3 14th and par-3 17th.

SAN ANTONIO – Andrew Landry won the Valero Texas Open on Sunday for his first PGA Tour victory, pulling away with early birdies and holding on with par saves.

The 30-year-old Texan, busy at home in Austin with the recent birth of the family’s first child, parred the final seven holes for a 4-under 68 and a two-stroke victory over Trey Mullinax and Sean O’Hair.

“It was obviously a tough week this week,” Landry said. “Going into the last few weeks with the childbirth and just really getting back out.”

Landry played at Arkansas after starring at Port Neches-Groves High School east of Houston. Many family members were at TPC San Antonio on Sunday.

“Everybody was out,” Landry said. “It was pretty special to be able to snag a victory with everybody being here to share it.”

Landry finished at 17-under 271. He earned $1,116,000 and a spot in the Masters next year. Canadian David Hearn finished in a tie for 16th, shooting a 7-under 281. His countrymen Corey Conners and Ben Silverman ended in ties for 26th and 45th, respectively.

“I didn’t even really think about it, to be honest with you,” Landry said. “There’s a lot of perks for a tour win and you’ve just got to continue to stay focused and not think about those kind of things.”

Landry took a two-stroke lead to the par-5 18th after Mullinax chunked a flop shot and bogeyed the short par-4 17th. Landry hit a 55-foot putt over a ridge to 3 feet for par on 17 and made an 8-footer on 18 after running a 50-foot downhill birdie try past.

Mullinax closed with a 69 a day after breaking the AT&T Oaks Course record with a 62.

“Just a lot of confidence. I know my game’s there, I’m playing really well,” Mullinax said. “Give all credit to Andrew. He played really well today, rock steady. He was putting great, hitting great shots.”

O’Hair shot 66.

“When I’m good, I’m really good, and when I’m not good, I’m not so good,” O’Hair said. “I’ve got to kind of get that a little bit better, but it’s always nice to compete and be in the hunt.”

Tied for the third-round lead with Zach Johnson, Landry birdied the first three holes and added two more on Nos. 6 and 10. He bogeyed the par-4 11th before the closing par run.

“Made a couple putts and, unfortunately, Zach and Trey kind of had some hiccups there on the front nine and they didn’t play it as well as I did,” Landry said. “I think that that was really, really key to getting to where I am right now.”

Landry won in his 32nd PGA Tour start. He earned his tour card last year on the Web.com Tour, and lost a playoff to Jon Rahm in January in the CareerBuilder Challenge.

“It helps because you get yourself in that situation and you continue to learn,” Landry said. “Losing in that playoff when I was continuing to hit good shot after good shot, just not making any putts. Normally that’s a strength of my game. Now here we are, a winner.”

Jimmy Walker was fourth at 14 under after his second 67.

“From where I’ve been, it’s nice to see a lot of red numbers, nice to see putts going in, nice to be in contention,” said Walker, the 2015 winner. “It felt good and I felt like I could get it done today and that’s been a while.”

Johnson had a 72 to finish fourth at 13 under. He won the event in 2008 and 2009, the last two times it was played at LaCantera. The 42-year-old Iowan is winless since the 2015 British Open.

“It’s fun to compete against the so-called younger generation,” Johnson said. “I still really do feel my best golf is in front of me. I know what I’ve got to clean up.”

Joaquin Niemann shot 67-67 on the weekend to finish sixth at 12 under in his pro debut. The 19-year-old from Chile was the top-ranked amateur in the world.

“I never thought I was going to finish how I played this week, but I can’t be more happy than this,” Niemann said. “Just try to keep it up and hope to play well for the next weeks.”

SAN ANTONIO – Zach Johnson birdied the par-5 18th Saturday at the Valero Texas Open for a share of the third-round lead with Andrew Landry, a stroke ahead of record-setting Trey Mullinax.

Johnson shot a 4-under 68, holing a 10-footer on 18 to match Landry at 13-under 203 at TPC San Antonio’s AT&T Oaks. Landry birdied the 16th and 17th in a 67.

Johnson won the event in 2008 and 2009, the last two times it was played at LaCantera. The 42-year-old Iowan is trying to win for the first time since the 2015 British Open.

“I’ve got 18 holes to get to that point,” Johnson said. “I’ve got to do exactly what I did on the back side and that was give myself opportunities on every hole. I’m putting great, I’m seeing the lines well, my caddie’s reading the greens well, so it’s just a matter of committing and executing down the stretch.”

The 30-year-old Landry is winless on the tour.

“I’m a good putter and I just need to give myself a lot of opportunities tomorrow like I did today,” Landry said. “I’ll be looking forward to tomorrow.”

Mullinax had a course-record 62. He played the back nine in 7-under 29, going 6 under on the last five with eagles on the par-5 14th and 18th and birdies on 16 and 17. He also birdied Nos. 10 and 12 and bogeyed 11.

“It’s probably one of the best rounds I’ve ever had,” Mullinax said. “To go out there and shoot 62 on a hard golf course is really good.”

Johnson played the front nine in even par with two birdies and two bogeys. He birdied Nos. 11, 14, 15 and 18 on the back nine.

“Different wind today early on, misjudged some numbers, misjudged some wind, made some bad swings, all of the above,” Johnson said. “But truthfully, my short game was actually pretty good, my putting was great. I missed some putts, but I hit some really good ones, hit some lines and I gave myself opportunities especially on the back side.”

Landry had a bogey-free round.

“I just did everything really good,” Landry said. “I was staying patient and just trying to make a bunch of pars. This golf course can come up and bite you in a heartbeat.”

Ryan Moore was two strokes back at 11 under after a 70. Sean O’Hair had a 65 to join 2015 champion Jimmy Walker (67), Chris Kirk (68) and 2013 winner Martin Laird (69) at 9 under.

“I just feel like I’m getting closer and closer to playing better and better golf, more solid golf, putting rounds together,” Walker said. “I’m excited for the opportunity tomorrow.”

Mullinax has made 42 of 44 putts from inside 10 feet this week.

“They just kind of remind me of greens from home,” Mullinax said. “My caddie, David (Flynn), has been reading them really well. We trusted each other on our reads and I’ve been hitting good putts. Been working hard on putting on the weeks off that I’ve had so it’s good to see some results.”

The 25-year-old former Alabama player chipped in for the eagle on 14 and the birdie on the par-3 16th.

“It was just a little bit down the hill,” he said about the 16th. “All you had to do was just land it just past that little light grass spot. My caddie told me just read it like a putt, so I tried to just read it like a putt and it went in.”

On 18, he hit a 3-iron from 255 yards to 15 feet to set up his eagle putt. He broke the course record of 63 set by Matt Every in 201 and matched by Laird in 2013. The tournament record is 60 at LaCantera, by Bart Bryant in 2004 and Johnson in 2009.

Canadian Olympian David Hearn struggled with a 1-over 73 on Saturday to fall from a tie for 5th into a share of 20th heading into Sunday’s final round.

SAN ANTONIO – Zach Johnson was going nowhere in the Valero Texas Open when it all changed with one putt.

He made an 8-foot par putt on the 13th hole of the opening round to stay at 2 under. He followed with a big drive, a hybrid into 12 feet and an eagle. Johnson was on his way, and he kept right on going Friday to a 7-under 65 and a share of the 36-hole lead with Ryan Moore.

“You just never know. That’s the beauty of this game,” Johnson said. “I felt like I was hitting some solid shots and wasn’t getting rewarded, and you’ve just got to stay in it. You’ve got to persevere, grind it out, fight for pars. You just never know.”

Moore had three birdies over his last five holes for a 67 and joined Johnson at 9-under 135.

They had a one-shot lead over Grayson Murray (69) and Andrew Landry (67).

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., (68), Ben Crane (66) and Martin Laird (65) were three shots behind. Billy Horschel and Keegan Bradley shot 71 and were four shots behind at 5-under 139.

Canadians Corey Conners (74) and Ben Silverman (73) sit even while Nick Taylor (70) and Mackenzie Hughes (75) missed the cut.

Sergio Garcia, who consulted Greg Norman on the design of the AT&T Oaks Course at the TPC San Antonio, had a short stay in his first time at the Texas Open since 2010. Garcia shot an even-par 72, and at one point became so frustrated he threw his driver into the shrubs.

Garcia finished at 2-over 146 and missed the cut.

It was the first time since 2010 that Garcia missed the cut in successive starts. That was the PGA Championship and, 10 weeks later, the Castello Masters in Spain. This time, he missed the cut in the Masters and Texas Open three weeks apart.

Johnson, a two-time winner of the Texas Open, appeared to be headed to a short week until the key par save on the 13th hole, followed by his eagle, par and three straight birdies. He began the second round Friday with five birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine, a sixth birdie on the par-4 first hole, and then an eagle on the short par-4 fifth when he holed out from a greenside bunker.

The only sour taste to his second round was a three-putt bogey from about 30 feet on his final hole. Even so, the view was much better than it was Thursday afternoon.

Moore thought he had wasted a good birdie opportunity on the par-5 14th hole when he left his 50-foot eagle putt about 6 feet short. But he made that, and then holed a similar putt from 8 feet for birdie on the next hole and capped his good finish with a 15-foot putt on the 17th.

“That was a huge momentum putt there,” Moore said of the 14th. “It was a tough putt from down there with a lot of wind. That green is pretty exposed and … yeah, really short and committed to that second putt really well and knocked it right in the middle.”

The birdies on the 14th and 15th were important to Moore because he missed a pair of 10-foot birdie tries to start the back nine.

“So it was nice to get those and get going in the right direction on the back,” he said.

The cut was at 1-over 145, and because 80 players made the cut, there will be a 54-hole cut on Saturday.

INDEX: SPORTS

SAN ANTONIO – Grayson Murray fixed a flaw in his swing and hit the ball well enough that blustery conditions weren’t an issue for him Thursday in the Valero Texas Open.

Coming off a missed cut at Hilton Head last week, Murray made seven birdies for a 5-under 67 and a one-shot lead. His only mistake was a double bogey from a greenside bunker on the par-3 seventh hole.

“Just the fact I did give myself enough opportunities today for birdie, it took a lot of pressure off,” Murray said.

Of the five players at 68, only Chesson Hadley played in the morning side of the draw, and he called it among his best rounds of the year because of gusts. The wind died in the afternoon and scoring improved slightly on the AT&T Oaks Course at the TPC San Antonio. Keegan Bradley, Ryan Moore, Billy Horschel and Matt Atkins each posted 68. Horschel and Moore played bogey-free.

“Struck the ball really well, something that we’ve been working hard on,” Horschel said. “Could have been better, yeah. I didn’t really make anything out there today. But I’m happy with it.”

Sergio Garcia, who consulted Greg Norman on the design of the course, played the Texas Open for the first time since 2010 and shot a 74. Adam Scott failed to make a birdie in his round of 75. Scott is at No. 59 in the world and needs to stay in the top 60 by May 21 to be exempt for the U.S. Open.

Harris English was in the group at 69, while two-time Texas Open champion Zach Johnson, Nick Watney and Brandt Snedeker were among those at 70. Johnson saved his round by going 5 under over his final five holes, starting with a 12-foot eagle putt on the par-5 14th hole. He birdied the last three.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., were tied for 12th at 2-under 70. Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., was tied for 21st at 1 under, Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., was at even par and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., was 4-over 76.

Murray was coming off a pair of top 15s at Bay Hill and the Houston Open when his game got away from his last week in the RBC Heritage, and he shots 74-70 to miss the cut. He got that sorted out in the five days between teeing it up in San Antonio.

He said he was coming down too steep, which meant he would flip his hands and hit a sharp draw or pull out of it and hit it short and right.

“I was hitting each club 10 yards shorter than I normally do, and you can’t play like that because your caddie is trying to give you a number and a club, and you keep hitting these bad shots or keep coming up short,” Murray said. “I got back to the basics with the setup and the takeaway, got my club in a better position at the top, which kind of frees my downswing. Then I can start going at it.”

Even so, Murray thought he wasted his good start – three birdies in his six holes – when his bunker shot at No. 7 came out with no spin and rolled off the green into a deep swale. He hit his third short to about 7 feet, but missed the putt and took double bogey.

“I would have loved to limit that to a bogey because bogeys don’t really kill you – doubles are the ones that now you’ve got to have an eagle or two birdies to come back with, and out here it’s kind of tough to make birdies,” Murray said. “But I kept my head. My caddie keeps me very positive out there, that’s why I think we could finish 4 under the last nine holes.”

Only 34 players in the 156-man field managed to break par.

Horschel missed four birdie chances inside 18 feet on the back nine. What pleased him the most was the way he struck the ball, particularly after his tie for fifth last week at the RBC Heritage. Horschel was one shot behind going into the last round and closed with a 72.

But he’s all about momentum, and he can only hope this is the start of one of his runs. Horschel won the FedEx Cup in 2014 when he finished second and won the final two playoff events.

“I’m a big momentum player. I’ve got to get the train moving forward,” he said. “I’ve always been a guy who gets on a little roll, get that train moving and jump in that winner’s circle.”

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Early on, Satoshi Kodaira was thinking only of playing well enough Sunday to make it to next week’s PGA Tour stop.

Those worries are over for the 28-year-old from Japan, who rallied from six shots behind to win the RBC Heritage in a playoff and gain an invitation to join the tour as a regular.

“This is a stage I’ve been dreaming about,” Kodaira said through an interpreter. “And having this opportunity to play full time is a dream come true. So, of course, I will accept full-time membership.”

Kodaira defeated Si Woo Kim on the third playoff hole, rolling in a 25-foot birdie on the par-3 17th hole, then punching his fist in celebration. It ended a drama-filled final round in which it appeared that Kim, Ian Poulter and Luke List had the lock on the title at different points.

But it was Kodaira’s relentless grind to the top that won the day. And with the game he showed at Harbour Town Golf Links, Kodaira appears like he’s got more big moments on tour ahead like countryman and five-time tour winner Hideki Matsuyama.

“I feel like I’m getting closer to that level,” said Kodaira, who is ranked 46th in the world and has played in 15 tour events. “I’d like to do my best in major championships and, hopefully, work hard at it.”

Bryson DeChambeau (66) and List (72) were tied for third. Third-round leader Poulter’s bid for a second tour title in three weeks ended with a 75 and a tie for seventh.

Starting times for the final round were moved up because of a forecast for bad weather.

Kodaira won $1.206 million. He’ll be exempt on the PGA Tour through the 2019-20 season.

The tournament appeared in steady hands with Kim, whose bulldog focus and shot-making held everyone off to win The Players Championship last May. But the 22-year-old from South Korea faltered over his final nine holes of regulation, with three bogeys to fall into the tie with Kodaira.

Kim had the chance to win in regulation but missed a six-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole. Kodaira said that was the most nervous he was during his wait of about an hour before the playoff.

Kodaira might have had a few butterflies on the final playoff hole as Kim had a 21-foot birdie try to extend things, but he came up short.

Kim thought the increased winds slowed down the greens, making putts more difficult on the final nine holes. “But I tried my best and the putts didn’t drop,” Kim said. “It is what it is.”

Poulter, who dramatically won the Houston Open two weeks ago for his first tour win in more than five years, had six bogeys Sunday after making just two in his first three rounds.

Kodaira was the hardest charged and few even realized until the final threesome of Kim, Poulter and List all came back to the pack. Kodaira became the sixth straight RBC Heritage champion who was three strokes down or more at the start of the final round.

Playing Harbour Town for the first time, Kodaira opened with a 73, then followed with the tournament’s best round of the week, 63, on Friday. That game kicked in once more in the final round, with six birdies on the way to the playoff.

DeChambeau, the 24-year-old second-round leader who fell apart with a Saturday 75, bounced back Sunday with a 66 to finish two shots back. His roller coaster of a tournament played out again in the final round as he rose three shots to 9-under, then fell back to 7-under before closing with consecutive birdies on the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th holes.

Dustin Johnson finished with his best round of the week, a 67, and tied for 16th, ensuring that he will stay at No. 1 in the world for at least the next two weeks.

He will take the next three weeks off, starting with a vacation to the Bahamas –“I’m headed there right now,” he said, smiling – until he returns to action at The Players Championship.

Johnson said his problem this season has been on the greens, calling his putting subpar from what he expects. He said he plans to work things out over the break and “will be ready for the Players.”

Storms forecast for late Sunday afternoon and early evening forced the PGA Tour to move up start times to 7 a.m., with the leaders going off about two hours later. The weather, while overcast and windy at times, remained calm enough to get in the final round without disruption.