Martin Flores carded a second straight round of 66 to move into the outright lead at 12-under, but several players are within a stroke or two.
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Complete FedExCup points breakdown and purse payout for Houston Open winner Carlos Ortiz and the rest of the players who finished 72 holes at Memorial Park.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – The last time we saw Tiger Woods on a golf course in Georgia with ties to the great Bobby Jones, Woods was being trailed by an uproarious throng that had been whipped into a frenzy by his impending victory. They trailed Woods with cell phones held aloft, hoping to capture footage of a victory that not long ago seemed unfathomable. This week, Woods is looking for a similar result to the one he had last September at the TOUR Championship. The scene would be much different this time, though, even if he did replicate his 12-shot victory from 1997. Patrons cannot bring their cell phones onto the grounds of Augusta National. And the ever-present Pinkerton security guards would ensure that the gallery ropes lining the final fairway remained intact. But that incredible scene at East Lake, even if it may never be replicated, also is helpful this week, for it reminds him that he is capable of winning on the PGA TOUR. That’s the biggest difference from last year, when Woods arrived at Augusta National on the heels of two promising finishes but never came close to contending. Woods’ top-fives at last year’s Valspar Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard proved that Woods’ latest comeback was the real deal. But those were just close calls. He was still in the midst of an injury-extended winless drought that had endured since 2013. “I just feel like I’ve improved a lot over the past 12, 14 months, but more than anything I’ve proven to myself that I can play at this level again,â€� Woods said. “I’ve worked my way back into one of the players that can win events.â€� Not only did Woods win last year, but he also finished second and sixth in the past two majors. He’s two wins short of Sam Snead’s PGA TOUR record. He needs four more major titles to tie Jack Nicklaus’ majors mark. The Masters is the major that has most defined Woods’ career. His win in 1997 was groundbreaking. Then he completed the Tiger Slam here four years later. He went back-to-back with another win a year later. And his improbable chip-in in 2005, when he needed every shot to dispatch a determined Chris DiMarco, remains one of the most memorable shots in Masters history. But that victory from 14 years ago remains his last win at Augusta National. He hasn’t won a major in nearly 11 years. While he used to use his length to decimate the risk-reward par-5s on Alister Mackenzie’s design, Woods now has to rely on his guile and experience. He still averages more than 300 yards per tee shot, but that’s no longer an eye-popping mark. It’s just slightly above average. Woods ranks 44th in driving distance this season. Related: Tee Times, Rounds 1 & 2 | Power Rankings | Masters notebook: Molinari returns as contender | Tales of Tiger’s equipment The putter is another club that separated Woods from his competition during his prime. Woods is 43 now, though, and it’s well-documented that the aging process impacts players’ ability to read greens. He ranks 74th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season. The last competitive shot that we saw from Woods was a missed 4-footer to lose his quarterfinal match to Lucas Bjerregaard at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. Woods may not be able to regain the distance advantage of his youth, but he thinks he can become a premier putter again, especially on the greens of Augusta National that require so much experience to read properly. “The hardest part is I just can’t practice like I used to. My back gets sore. I just can’t log the in the time that I used to,â€� Woods said. “I’ve worked on my putting, and when I have, I’ve putted well. … I just can’t do all things all the time anymore.â€� He’s still one of the game’s best iron players, even if the clubs have gotten longer. But contending at the Masters, which used to be an annual occurrence for Woods, is no longer a guarantee. He made last year’s cut with just a shot to spare, keeping alive his streak of 19 consecutive cuts made at Augusta National. He has never missed the Masters cut as a professional. He has finished outside the top 15 in three of his past four Masters. That’s more finishes outside the top 15 than he had in his first 15 Masters as a pro (two). Last year was just the third time as a pro that Woods failed to break par in the first three rounds at Augusta National. He can never be counted out at Augusta National, though.
HOUSTON - Shortly before Collin Morikawa, Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland stormed the PGA TOUR, Sam Burns was the big prospect coming out of the college game. RELATED: Leaderboard | Will Day’s winless drought end in Houston? | Houston win could be unprecedented for DJ Three years ago, he was the Jack Nicklaus Award winner as college golf's top player. That same year, Burns finished in the top 10 of a PGA TOUR event while still an amateur. Then, in one of his first TOUR starts after turning pro, Burns played alongside Tiger Woods, and beat him. Now Burns, still just 24 years old, has a chance to earn his first PGA TOUR victory Sunday at the Vivint Houston Open. He will start the final round at Memorial Park with a one-shot lead. The reigning FedExCup champion, a former World No. 1 and a demanding golf course all stand between him and the trophy, however. Burns got up-and-down for a scrambling par on 18 to shoot 68 on Saturday. He's at 9-under 201, one ahead of Carlos Ortiz and Jason Day. Ortiz and Day both shot 67 on Saturday. Sepp Straka is two shots back, while Dustin Johnson is three behind. Johnson, who is playing for the first time since the U.S. Open, has shot consecutive 66s after a sloppy 72 in the first round. Johnson and Day, who've combined for 35 PGA TOUR victories, won't be the only thing he has to worry about, however. Memorial Park, the municipal course that is making its return to the PGA TOUR after a hiatus that lasted more than a half-century, has proven to be quite the test. Its scoring average this week is more than a stroke over par. There have been 32 triple-bogeys or worse this week, more than there were the entire week at Winged Foot for this year's U.S. Open. Many of those high scores are attributed to the steep slopes of short grass around the greens. They repel wayward approach shots and make recovery difficult. A chip shot caught heavy will roll back to a player's feet, while a bump-and-run hit too hard can scoot across the green. Combine that challenge with the thick rough along the fairways and firm greens and it's easy to see why this public course has put up such a good fight. "It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when this golf course will hit you," Burns said. It's also about how you bounce back from those blows. Burns, who started Saturday with the lead, bogeyed two of his first three holes but also eagled the eighth hole and birdied three of his final six holes to grab the solo lead. Burns has already proven he can handle playing with a future World Golf Hall of Famer in the final round of a PGA TOUR event. It was two years ago that Burns played with Woods in the final round of The Honda Classic. Burns was a Korn Ferry Tour player competing on a sponsor exemption, while Woods was beginning to show the form that led to wins at the TOUR Championship, Masters and ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. No one would have blamed Burns if he succumb to the pressure of playing with Woods, who was adorned in his Sunday red. Burns beat him instead. Burns shot 68, two shots lower than Woods, to finish in the top 10. Burns graduated the Korn Ferry Tour that year. He finished third in his second TOUR event as a member, the Sanderson Farms Championship, and kept his card despite suffering a season-ending ankle injury in July. He broke his right ankle while playing pickup basketball with kids in his neighborhood. Burns returned for the start of the new season but admits that may have been premature. He said it wasn't until this January that the ankle stopped bothering him. Two months later, the season was paused by the coronavirus pandemic. Burns finished 111th in the FedExCup this year, but already has been in contention once in this young season. He held the halfway lead at the season-opening Safeway Open and entered Sunday one shot back. A final-round 70, including a 37 on the back nine, left him four shots back of winner Stewart Cink. On Sunday, Burns will play in the final group alongside Day and Carlos Ortiz, who's also seeking his first PGA TOUR win. Day called his game "a work in progress" as he rebuilds his swing to take stress of his ailing back. "I've got to be patient with it," Day said Saturday. Johnson, meanwhile, could accomplish something he's never done before. He has 23 PGA TOUR wins, but none of them have come after he shot over par in the first round. Johnson, who's making his first start since testing positive for COVID-19, opened this week with a 2-over 72. He's quickly found his form, however, and said his game now feels similar to the FedExCup Playoffs, when he finished 1st-2nd-1st to claim his first FedExCup. Having two of the world's top players in pursuit always makes for a stressful Sunday, but beating Woods gives Burns confidence entering the final round. "That day really challenged me," he said of his round with Woods at the Honda. "I think it was good for me to see that I was capable of being able to do that in a pressure-packed situation like that. Tomorrow’s a similar situation."
