Brooks Koepka overcame two early bogeys and the huge shadow of being in the same group with Jordan Spieth at home, shooting a 5-under-par 65 on Saturday to take the lead into the final round of the Byron Nelson in Irving, Texas.
Kopeka was at 16-under 194 to match the best 54-hole score at the Nelson and put him two strokes ahead of Spieth.
Koepka took the lead with a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 14. That was the same hole where Spieth hit his drive into the water, had to punch into the fairway, and then drained a 23-foot bogey putt in his round of 67.
Spieth played his first PGA Tour event at the Nelson as a 16-year-old amateur six years ago. He is now the world’s No. 2-ranked player and the crowd favorite. His image is everywhere, including the 8,000 bobbleheads given away Saturday.
Matt Kuchar, Bud Cauley, and Sergio Garcia were tied for third at 13 under.
Playing in the final threesome with Spieth and second-round leader Ben Crane, Koepka hit his first drive way left on the way to an opening bogey. There were birdies at Nos. 3 and 5, but Koepka followed with another bogey at No. 6 when he hit his first two shots into the rough.
But Koepka played bogey-free the rest of the day and took over as the leader with a birdie at the difficult 405-yard 14th hole. Spieth made the long putt to keep that hole from being worse right after his first par this week at the par-3 13th, where he had three-putted for bogey each of the first two days.
At 26, Kopeka is four years older than Spieth but has only one win (Phoenix in 2015) in his 54 previous PGA Tour starts.
Crane, who turned 40 in March, shot 72 and dropped to 10 under and in a tie for 11th. He is looking for his first victory in 48 starts since winning at Memphis two years ago in what also was his last top-10 finish.
Garcia was 15 under and with the outright lead after his fourth birdie of the round, and second in a row, when he made a 25-foot at No. 8, a 463-yard par 4. But the 36-year-old Spaniard, the 2004 Nelson champion, then three-putted from nearly 60 feet at the 9th hole before missing the fairway with his drive at No. 10 and being unable to make a 9-foot par save before pars on his last eight holes.
European — Rory McIlroy could be on the cusp of his first Irish Open victory if the heavens permit him to finish.
Lightning storms bedeviled Saturday’s third round at the K Club in Straffan. Tournament organizers suspended play for the night with McIlroy ready to tee off on the 16th hole holding a three-stroke lead over Masters champion Danny Willett.
McIlroy protested to officials amid bucketing rain that fading light meant he couldn’t see the course properly.
McIlroy, 9 under for the tournament, has never won the Irish Open and failed for the past three years to make the cut. He was the only player Saturday not to drop a single shot.
Willett started the day one shot ahead of McIlroy, but carded bogeys in three of his first seven holes to fall into second.
LPGA — Ariya Jutanugarn moved into position for her second straight LPGA Tour victory, shooting a bogey-free, 6-under 65 to take the third-round lead in the Kingsmill Championship in Williamsburg, Va.
The 20-year-old Jutanugarn had three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the front nine on the soggy River Course and birdied three of the last six. She’s coming off a victory two weeks ago in Alabama that made her the first Thai winner in LPGA Tour history.
Jutanugarn had a 10-under 203 total.
Second-round leader So Yeon Ryu bogeyed the final hole to drop a stroke back along with fellow South Korean player In Gee Chun and Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum.
Ranked 11th in the world but sixth in the race for the four spots on South Korea’s Olympic team, Ryu shot a 69.
Chun had a 62 to tie the course record set by Jiyai Shin in 2012. The U.S. Women’s Open champion is eighth in the world and fourth in the South Korean Olympic race.
Phatlum shot a 65.
Champions — Bernhard Langer surged to a four-stroke lead in the Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Ala. A stroke behind leader Kenny Perry entering the round, Langer shot a 3-under 69 to move to 12-under 204 in the first PGA Tour Champions major of the year.
The 58-year-old Langer won the Chubb Classic in February for his 26th victory on the 50-and-over tour.
Perry held the lead after each of the first two rounds but had a double bogey on the opening hole on his way to a 74. He and Scott McCarron, who shot a 72, were tied for second place going into the final round.
John Daly was among five players at 7 under after a 69. Playing in his second PGA Tour Champions event, the two-time major winner had a double bogey, two bogeys, an eagle, and five birdies.
Norfolk County Classic — Jake Ratti of Hanover, who just completed his freshman season at Bryant, shot a 5-under 65 at Presidents Golf Course in Quincy, taking a three-shot lead after the first round. In second place after a 68 was Andrew Skinner, playing on his home course. Alex Jeffers (Woodland Golf Club) was alone in third after an even-par 70.
