WATCH: Dustin Johnson’s walk-off eagle at the FedEx St. Jude Classic

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HOUSTON — Jason Day, eyeing his first PGA TOUR victory in more than two years, was one shot back of Sam Burns at the Vivint Houston Open on Saturday, shooting a 3-under 67 less than two weeks after withdrawing during the final round at THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK because of neck discomfort. RELATED: Final leaderboard | Johnson looking for unprecedented win The Australian was behind second-round leader Sam Burns, who began the day in the lead and ahead by two strokes. He overcame back-to-back early bogeys to salvage a 68. Burns was at 201, also one stroke ahead of Mexico's Carlos Ortiz. Ortiz, tied for second after each of the first two rounds, also put up a 67. Like Burns, he and several other contenders are chasing their first PGA TOUR title. Dustin Johnson was another two shots back after a bogey-free 66. This was his first start since the U.S. Open following a six-week break brought on by a positive test for the novel coronavirus. Johnson nearly put himself out of the tournament after opening with a 72 on the public Memorial Park course near downtown that's hosting a TOUR event for the first time since 1963. First-round leader Brandt Snedeker's third-round 76 dropped him far out of contention. Day has 12 TOUR titles — the 2015 PGA Championship among them — but none since 2018 after winning eight times over a sparkling two-year stretch in 2015-16. This summer, flummoxed by his long slump caused in part by ongoing back and neck issues, he decided to split with Colin Swatton, his coach and mentor since he was 12. Day put himself in the mix at THE CJ CUP in Las Vegas with a third-round 66 but took a triple bogey on the opening hole of the final round. Then he pulled his approach from the right rough into the water. He called it a day after hitting two shots on the second hole, the first of which he also pulled badly. Having intended to play every fall tournament to prepare for next week's delayed Masters, Day returned last week for the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD and finished in a tie for 60th-place. Austria's Shepp Straka, also chasing a breakthrough TOUR victory, was alone in fourth place at 203, a shot ahead of the fifth-place Johnson after his 66. Straka had held a share of the lead before bogeying the 17th hole. Dawie van der Walt, a South African who lives in the Houston area, briefly got to the lead at 8 under but lost three strokes to par on the back nine, falling into a sixth-place tie with Aaron Wise.

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DALLAS – In many ways, Sung Kang’s performance this week at the AT&T Byron Nelson resembled his play two years ago – and 230 miles south down Interstate 45 – at the Houston Open. He tied the course record in the second round. He separated himself from the field entering the weekend. And he went into Sunday a little bit fatigued and facing an early tee time, all the while wearing a target on his back. It did not go well two years ago. Kang played conservative those last 36 holes, watched Russell Henley make 10 birdies in the final round, and had to settle for second place. It was his best result on the PGA TOUR, but the lesson was a cruel one. And yet oh so valuable. What Kang learned two years ago, he put into action Sunday at Trinity Forest. RELATED: Final leaderboard | Winner’s bag | Updated FedExCup standings Knowing the scores were going to be low in the soft, windless conditions making this course defenseless, Kang knew he could not play conservative. And knowing it would be a long day – thanks to Saturday’s rain delay, he woke up early Sunday to play the remaining nine holes of his third round, followed by 18 more in the final round – Kang was determined to prevent fatigue (both mentally and physically) from impacting his score. So he asked caddie Jason Shortall to keep the between-shot banter light, to “just keep telling me about the funny things and that I can laugh and forget about the golf for awhile,â€� said the 31-year-old South Korean. The payoff came on the back nine, as Kang eventually broke away from playing partners Matt Every and Scott Piercy to win his first TOUR event in 159 career starts, shooting a final-round 4-under 67 to win by two. That victory moves Kang to 21st in the FedExCup standings and also improves his resume as a potential International Team member for this year’s Presidents Cup. “Dream come true,â€� said Kang, who lives in Coppell, Texas, about 30 minutes from Trinity Forest. “When I just started playing golf, I really dream about this, winning PGA TOUR event and it finally happened.â€� Kang set up his victory after tying the course record with a 61 on Friday. Two years ago, he shot a second-round 63 that tied the course record at the Golf Club of Houston and gave him a six-shot lead. But he shot 71-72 that weekend. Anything in the 70s this weekend in South Dallas would not be good enough. So Kang started the back nine of his third round Sunday morning with three birdies in his first five holes, leading to a 68 that gave him a three-shot lead over Every and five on Piercy and Brooks Koepka. Once the leaders teed off in the final round, it didn’t take long for Kang to be caught. Piercy birdied six of his first eight holes; Every was 4 under on his first six holes. Meanwhile, Kang was even par on his first seven holes and lost the lead. This time, he was determined not to be left in the dust. He rolled in an 8-foot birdie putt at the eighth, nearly holed his approach shot at the ninth, then birdied the 10th with a 14-footer to reclaim the lead. A poor tee shot at the par-3 12th left him in thick rough, and he hacked out into a greenside bunker. But he bounced back from that bogey with another three-birdie run, starting with a two-putt birdie at the par-5 14th and a 22-1/2 foot birdie putt at the par-4 15th. Piercy had a similar line on a longer putt, and Shortall raced over to check it once Piercy struck the ball. When Every bogeyed, Kang led by two. “I knew that was going to be the most important putt for this week,â€� Kang said. “… I had a read from him and I was really going to make this one in. This probably will give me the trophy. I really focused. I just saw the picture and went in.â€� It was the par-4 16th where Kang then put the tournament away. He and Every both had approach shots inside 100 yards from the same side of the fairway. Kang stuck his to 7 feet, setting up his third straight birdie; Every could not match, finishing 28 feet from the pin. “I kind of gassed it a little coming in on 15,â€� Every said. “Couple of those left pins, I like to fade it, wind off to the left, just disaster left, which is not a good set-up for me. I could have hit better shots.â€� But Every, looking for his first TOUR victory since his second consecutive Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard victory in 2015, was impressed by what he saw from Kang. They were paired for all 72 holes this week. “Sung played really good,â€� Every said. “It would have been tough to beat him.â€� Kang now becomes the 10th different Korean player to win on the PGA TOUR. The best of them, K.J. Choi, an eight-time winner, gave Kang a call going into the weekend. His advice? “Just play your game. Don’t change anything,â€� Kang recalled. Things, however, will change now. They always do for first-time TOUR winners.

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