The moving day at the Valero Texas Open moved practically everything… except the lead. The American Brian Harman (-12), without the ease of the first two days of competition at the TPC San Antonio, managed to resist at the top of the leaderboard with a round of 72, six more than he had needed on Thursday and Friday to complete the 18 holes of the spectacular course designed by Pete Dye and Greg Norman, and will be looking for his first victory in almost two years tomorrow.
A bogey on the par five second and another on the par four fourth put the 2023 Open Championship winner on alert. But little by little he managed to steady his nerves and carry out a complete survival exercise to emerge unscathed from a Saturday full of inaccuracies and battling against an annoying wind. He only managed six out of fourteen holes and just seven out of eighteen greens in regulation, but he was able to overcome this to maintain a comfortable lead in the table.
He took advantage of the par five on the 14th, despite finding sand with his second shot, to get his first birdie of the day. And on the short par four 17th, also recovering from the bunker, he made up for the effects of his two initial mistakes. He even had the chance to leave ‘moving day’ with a round under par with a putt from about three meters on 18, after a great approach shot from a dense rough area. But the final 72 was in line with his game.
Brian held on, but his main rivals for the win changed. Andrew Novak (-9), with a good round of 69, climbed four positions to take sole second place, three shots behind the leader and becoming his main threat. Behind him came Tom Hoge (-8), with the best card of the day in the tournament, a 68 with four birdies, all in the second half of the course, and without a single mistake, allowing him to dream of fighting for a win that includes a passport to Augusta which he, like the leader, already has assured.
Keith Mitchell (-7), who started the day in second position, suffered a lot in the first half of his round and, although he reacted at the end, he couldn’t avoid ending the day on the move, losing a stroke on the course and falling three positions in the rankings. Although his ordeal, compared to what the third member of Saturday’s stellar match, Sam Ryder (-2), experienced, seems like child’s play… After starting the tournament on a high, neck problems have slowed the American down to the point where he conceded five strokes today and said goodbye to the fight for victory.
Sami Valimaki (-6) and Chad Ramey (-6) can still fight for something important, as long as Harman gets stuck on Sunday. While stars such as Patrick Cantlay (-4), Rickie Fowler (-3), Jordan Spieth (-3), Tommy Fleetwood (-1), Justin Rose (-1) or Tony Finau (+1) have already made it impossible. The TPC San Antonio will hand down the sentence tomorrow between those who are only looking for the title, with Harman as the clear favourite, and those who still dream of winning and sneaking in at the last minute at Augusta National.
