CARROLLTON, Texas >> Patrick Reed shot a 4-under 68 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead at LIV Golf Dallas in a bid for his first victory on the Saudi-funded tour.

Tied for the first-round lead with 4Aces teammate Harold Varner III after an opening 67, Reed had six birdies and two bogeys to reach 9-under 135 at Maridoe Golf Club. The 34-year-old Reed won the 2018 Masters and has nine PGA Tour victories.

Paul Casey (67) and Abraham Ancer (69) were tied for second. Varner shot 72 to drop into a tie for third at 5 under with Tyrrell Hatton (65), Richard Bland (69) and David Puig (69).

Seeking first LPGA Tour victories, Schmelzel and Valenzuela team to take Dow Championship lead

MIDLAND, Mich. >> Sarah Schmelzel and Albane Valenzuela took the third-round lead Saturday in the Dow Championship, shooting a 2-under 68 in alternate-shot play to move into position for their first LPGA Tour victories.

Schmelzel and Valenzuela had a 13-under 197 total at Midland Country Cup heading into the better-ball final round. They opened with an alternate-shot 68 on Thursday and had a best-ball 61 on Friday.

“You’re kind of on pins and needles most of the day, just hoping you don’t get your partner in trouble,” Schmelzel said. “Just super solid. I feel like we had really good attitudes throughout the entire day. I think both of us took every single shot as it came.”

The teams of Jin Hee Im-Somi Lee (68) and Manon De Roey-Pauline Roussin-Bouchard (69) were a stroke back.

“I’m very proud of us,” De Roey said. “We hung in there. We fought until the end.”

Jennifer Kupcho and Leona Maguire, the second-round leaders after a 60, birdied the final two holes for a 72 that left them tied for fourth at 11 under with Lauren Hartlage-Brooke Matthews (66) and Sung Hyun Park-Ina Yoon (67) . Kupcho won in 2022 with Lizette Salas.

Harrington’s chip-in on 18 leaves him tied (again) with Hensby, Cink at US Senior Open

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. >> Padraig Harrington chipped in from 20 yards off the green on the 18th hole Saturday to salvage a floundering round and pull back into a tie for the lead with Stewart Cink and Mark Hensby at the U.S. Senior Open.

Harrington’s chip-in for birdie capped a round of 2-under 68 and put him in the same spot he was in to start — tied with the same two opponents he played with over another tricky day at the Broadmoor that included wind, rain, even a flash of lightning that pulled the players off the course for a half-hour.

“We could’ve taken the day off,” Harrington said as he shook hands to wrap up a day of twists and turns.

Hensby’s 68 included another four birdies, along with an eagle, to bring his total to 19 for the tournament. But his best look of all — a 6-foot uphill attempt that on No. 18 that came as the course was still buzzing from Harrington’s shot — fell far off to the right and he settled for par.

Cink’s included a third shot on the par-3 16th that came from farther away than the second after a misread on a putt from just off the green curled some 30 feet away from the hole. Cink’s bogey there dropped him into a tie, and he finished with a pair of pars.

They were at 8-under 202. One shot behind the leaders was Thomas Bjorn, whose 66 matched the best round of the day and set up what appears to be a four-man fight for the title.

Steve Flesch (67) was next at 4 under and Steven Alker’s 66 left him at 3 under, tied with Miguel Angel Jimenez (68) and Paul Stankowski (67).

One more shot back was Billy Andrade (70), who collapsed in agony after his approach on No. 17, yet somehow still made par there.

That came about an hour after his tee shot on No. 13 slammed into a tree about 40 yards left of the tee box and came to rest in the closely mown strip of grass between the tee and the fairway.