Munoz has 68 to maintain Greenbrier Classic lead

SILVIS, Ill. – Dylan Frittelli shot a bogey-free, 6-under-par 65 to reach 14 under par in the third round of the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run on Saturday.  But it was his wild adventures on the eighth hole, including an unusual and fortuitous ruling, that took up most of his post-round interview. “Yeah, it’s a way of using the rules to your benefit,â€� Frittelli said. He was tied for fifth and within two of leaders Andrew Landry (67) and Cameron Tringale (65). Frittelli, 153rd in the FedExCup, got his unusual ruling at the par-4 eighth hole, where he lost his drive into the trees, the ball coming to rest 257 yards away in the right rough. His second shot, from 164, cleared the right greenside bunker, but barely, stopping in the short rough barely over the top lip of the trap.  Related: Tee times | Morikawa keeps momentum going | Landry’s putter heats up It was a lie no one wants, calling for a shot almost no one practices. Frittelli had no stance if he went with his natural right-handed swing, the ball (in the grass) well above his feet (in the sand). If he tried to hit the ball that way, he could easily have whiffed or done a backward somersault into the sand. Or both. Conversely, standing above the bunker would mean either turning the club over to make a lefty swing or facing opposite the hole and taking a backward, croquet-style swing with the club in his right hand. Frittelli was exploring these options when he realized there was something under his feet just above the bunker: a sprinkler head. Eureka.  “I wouldn’t have called the referee if I didn’t truly think I could have played the shot that way,â€� said Frittelli, a South African who briefly played alongside Jordan Spieth at Texas. “… I was standing right on a sprinkler head. The ref agreed with me. He said, ‘Sure, it’s definitely a plausible shot. It’s not conventional obviously but it’s plausible,’ so he gave me relief.â€� But his adventure wasn’t over yet. “My drop was then a club length away,â€� Frittelli continued. “Rolled back towards the sprinklers; now playing right-handed, I was standing on the sprinklers again, so needed to take relief for the right-handed shot from the same sprinkler and then go one more club length, and ended up in the sort of first-cut area where I could have a much easier chip shot than where I was.â€� After all that, from 51 feet, Frittelli chipped to 13 inches and made the par putt.  Frittelli, who birdied four of his first five holes, has made 13 cuts in 19 starts but has just three top-25 finishes this season. The big difference at TPC Deere Run: Although he came into this week 161st in Strokes Gained: Putting, the two-time European Tour winner is second (+5.237) in that stat this week. “Yesterday I made a few,â€� Frittelli said, “today I made a few, and if I can keep that rolling and the ball-striking remains, it should be a good Sunday.â€� A good break might be helpful, too.

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Johnson shoots 63 to take lead in China

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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 3 over. 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 early 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. Ben Crane (66), Martin Laird (65) and David Hearn (68) were three shots out of the lead among those who played Friday morning. Billy Horschel and Keegan Bradley shot 71 and were four shots behind at 5-under 139. Sergio Garcia, who consulted Greg Norman on the design of the AT&T Oaks Course at the TPC San Antonio, might not have a long 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 was outside the cut. He was in jeopardy of missing his second straight cut, depending on afternoon scoring. 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.

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