Trump wants to see golf ‘get back to normal’

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McKINNEY, Texas — Sam Burns still has the lead going into the final round of the AT&T Byron Nelson despite more magic on the 18th green from local favorite Jordan Spieth. Now it’s a race to beat the weather in Texas in the final round with a good number of the players headed to the PGA Championship in South Carolina. RELATED: Tee times adjusted for final round Burns shot a 3-under 69 for a one-stroke lead over K.H. Lee, who had a 67. Spieth, Matt Kuchar and Charl Schwartzel each shot 66 and were three strokes back along with Alex Noren, who shot 70. The players will switch from twosomes back to threesomes going off the first and 10th tees soon after daybreak Sunday with heavy rain in the forecast. Without delays, the tournament will finish about four hours earlier than normal. Spieth rolled in another eagle at the par-5 18th, this time a shorter, bending putt from the fringe behind the hole. This time it just trimmed his deficit after Spieth’s 55-footer up a hill that splits the green gave him a share of the first-round lead. The roar was the same, though, from the biggest gallery on the new course of his hometown event, the TCP Craig Ranch in McKinney, about 30 miles north of Dallas. It’s the third venue in the past four Nelsons. “Once it got on the green, it looked good,” Spieth said. “Started the putter raise and I wasn’t positive it was going in because the angle it was coming in at. I wanted to do the no look to the crowd, but, I mean, it was a really cool moment.” Seamus Power holed out on a 35-foot bunker shot on the par-4 15th for a 67 and was tied with 2017 U.S. Amateur winner Doc Redman at 16 under. Redman shot 69. Scott Stallings and Harris English shot matching 63s after making the cut on the number at 6 under, a record low for the Nelson on a course that hosted two Korn Ferry Tour Championships. Burns, trying to become first player since Camilo Villegas in 2008 to get his first two PGA TOUR victories in consecutive events, had his first bogey of the tournament on No. 1 and another on the sixth hole. He missed an eagle by inches on 18. Lee birdied four of his last seven holes and the South Korean briefly shared the lead with Burns before the Louisiana native tapped in for birdie on the final hole. Spieth’s eagle was a boost after back-to-back bogeys stalled the momentum of six birdies over a nine-hole stretch for the three-time major winner who will be looking for the career grand slam next week. Kuchar birdied five of the last seven holes on the front nine, and the 2011 Masters champion Schwartzel answered a bogey at 16 with consecutive birdies. Stallings birdied six consecutive holes a day after shooting 71 in the second round, when allergy medication affected him badly enough for his caddy to ask, “You think we could break 80 today?” Seeking his first win since 2014, Stallings made the turn at 2 under in the second round. The 36-year-old Tennessean had four straight birdies, made the cut on the number and has played 27 holes in 13 under. “You’re way behind, you’re trying to give yourself as many birdie putts as you can,” said Stallings, who has just three top-three finishes in seven years since winning at Torrey Pines. “I didn’t know that I made six in a row.” Sung Kang, the defending champion from 2019 before last year’s COVID-19 cancellation and the subsequent move to TPC Craig Ranch after two years at the treeless links course Trinity Forest in Dallas, shot 72 to remain at 8 under. Jon Rahm, the highest-ranked player in field at No. 3, is 11 under after a 68. Fifth-ranked Bryson DeChambeau, who played at nearby SMU, stayed at 7 under with a 72.

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Tiger Woods is back in action at the newly-dubbed Genesis Invitational, where J.B. Holmes defends. Woods isn’t just the host. He’s also seeking a record-breaking 83rd victory. RELATED: Inside The Field FIELD NOTES: This is the first year that the tournament will be played as an invitational. The field is now 120 players, and the winner receives a three-year exemption, putting the Genesis on par with the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. … Rory McIlroy makes his fourth start at Riviera. He finished T4 a year ago. McIlroy, the reigning FedExCup champion, is expected to regain the top spot in the world ranking Monday. It will be the first time since 2015 that he has held that position. … All of the top five players in the world (as of Feb. 7) will be in the field including McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, and Dustin Johnson… Thomas had the 54-hole lead a year ago before shooting a 4-over 75 in the final round to finish runner-up. Thomas is currently the FedExCup leader as he seeks to join Woods and McIlroy as the only two-time FedExCup champs. … Joseph Bramlett received the 2020 Charlie Sifford Memorial exemption and will be in the field. Bramlett, who received the same honor in 2011, is the first two-time recipient. He shot 75-74 in 2011 to miss the cut. Since then, Bramlett completely re-built his swing after suffering an annular tear to his L4 and L5 discs. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points COURSE: Riviera Country Club, 7,322 yards, par 71. A long-time PGA TOUR host club, Riviera will be the site of the 2028 Olympic events. STORYLINES: This will be Woods’ third start of the season. He won THE ZOZO Championship to tie Sam Snead’s PGA TOUR wins record of 82, then finished T9 at the Farmers Insurance Open. Woods finished T15 here a year ago. This year will mark the 11th time that he tees it up at the venerable Riviera, a course that’s had his number throughout his career. It’s the only course Woods has played more than four times in his career where he hasn’t won. … Bubba Watson, who has two-straight top-10’s to begin 2020, returns to Riviera where he’s a three-time winner. Watson won in 2014, 2016, and 2018 and if history is any indication, these ‘even’ years have treated him well. … Stay tuned for the results of the Collegiate Showcase on Monday. The low collegiate golfer after the 18-hole earns a spot in the tournament. Past winners include 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler. … A great finish that catapults a golfer into the top-10 of the FedExCup standings will mean earning a late spot into the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship.   72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Lanny Wadkins (1985). 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, George Archer (3rd round, 1983 at Rancho Park GC), Ted Tryba (3rd round, 1999 at Riviera CC). LAST TIME: It was a brutal Sunday a year ago at Riviera as cold temperatures and gusty winds impacted the scoring. While Thomas fell down the leaderboard after a 4-over 75, it was Holmes – who played 33 holes on the final day – who came out on top. Thomas made three bogeys in his first five holes in the final round while Holmes was 2 under through that same stretch. That was ultimately the turning point as Holmes ended at 1 under for the day and won – for the fifth time on TOUR – by a shot. He was able to hold off a hard-charging Si Woo Kim, whose 5-under 66 was the round of the day. Kim finished third while Marc Leishman and McIlroy finished T4. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-2:45 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (CBS).   PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 9:45 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 11:15 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (Featured Groups and Featured Holes) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 1 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

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