Watch live: Third round of Tour Championship

In pursuit of his first PGA TOUR victory, Texas product Andrew Landry proves he’s got what it takes with a 4-under 68 in the final round at TPC San Antonio. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Landry shook off short misses at the par-4 12th hole (just inside five feet) and par-5 14th (inside four feet) to win and move from 42nd to 9th in the FedExCup. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Landry knows his game. “My game is built for hard golf courses, tough conditions, just because I’m pretty accurate with the driver,â€� he said a few years ago. Yep. Shortly after that, Landry went on to contend at the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont before a final-round 78 and a T15 finish, and he was at it again at difficult TPC San Antonio. He led the field in strokes gained: tee-to-green, and his 17-under total was the lowest winning score since the Valero moved to TPC San Antonio (AT&T Oaks Course) in 2010. “Every single player out here is good,â€� said Landry, who lost to Jon Rahm on the fourth hole of a playoff at the CareerBuilder Challenge earlier this season. “Every single one of them is great. We’re all here for reasons, because we worked really hard and we’re really good at what we do.â€� 2. Zach Johnson, 42, the 54-hole co-leader with Landry, was exactly the right guy for the 30-year-old Landry to play with as he tried to chase down his first win. In fact, Johnson was such a perfect playing partner it was almost eerie. Landry, interviewed on camera after he had finished 21st on the 2015 Web.com Tour money list, was asked which players he looked up to. Answer: Jason Day (not in the Valero field) and Zach Johnson. “Zach’s such a good guy and he is so—he just gets it,â€� Landry said after winning the Valero. “He was telling me good shot after good shot, just keep pushing. He would change the subject every now and then to just kind of lighten the mood. I just knew what I had to do. I just stuck to my game plan and saw it happen.â€� 3. As for Johnson, the 12-time TOUR winner struggled with a final-round 72, but he says he doesn’t mind being a shoulder to lean on for the younger players like Landry. “What I’ve seen lately is that I’m getting questioned a lot by the young guys, about not just golf stuff but life stuff,â€� Johnson said at the RBC Heritage. “That just means I’m getting old. But I asked the same questions myself with David Toms, Chris DiMarco, Davis Love, Corey Pavin, Tom Lehman, Lee Janzen, guys that I really admired.â€�     Johnson was vying to become the third player to win the Valero three times, after Arnold Palmer (1960-’62) and Justin Leonard (2000-’01, ’07). 4. Sean O’Hair isn’t far off. After a T2 that saw him sign for the lowest final round (66), the 35-year-old four-time TOUR winner was a mixture of disappointed and encouraged. The upside: He’d just racked up eight birdies on a course that’s notoriously stingy with them. The downside: He was still chasing his first win since the 2011 RBC Canadian Open. “That fifth [win] has been hard to come by,â€� he said. “… I’ve had some close calls. “I feel like my game’s kind of coming into form a little bit,â€� added O’Hair, who with partner Steve Stricker won the unofficial QBE Shootout late last year. “But this year’s been a little bit erratic and I’ve just got to clean that up a bit. I’ve been driving it really well all year and I felt like this golf course really called for that. Felt like if I could just hit a few more greens, because this golf course is all about that as well, make a few putts, which is what I did, I was going to have a good week.â€� O’Hair chipped in for birdie from 55’ 1â€� on the final hole for his seventh runner-up finish in 345 starts, including one in each of the last four seasons. 5. There were breakthroughs all around in San Antonio. Landry is the seventh first-time winner of the season, with three coming in the last five weeks (Landry, Satoshi Kodaira, Brice Garnett). He’s also the third first-time winner in the last five editions of the Valero, joining Steven Bowditch (2014) and Kevin Chappell (2017). Trey Mullinax shot 62-69 on the weekend for a career-best T2 in his 41st TOUR start. Jimmy Walker (67, solo fourth) had his best finish since a third at TPC Boston in the fall of 2016. Then there was former No. 1-ranked amateur Joaquin Niemann of Chile. The 19-year-old merely birdied his last three holes for a second straight 67 and solo sixth place. “It’s one of the best week of my life,â€� Niemann said. Even better, while becoming the first player since Anthony Kim (T2, 2006) to finish in the top 10 at the Valero in his professional debut on TOUR, Niemann also gained entry into the Wells Fargo Championship without having to burn a sponsor’s exemption. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Although he came into the Valero at 91st in strokes gained: tee-to-green, Landry was first in the field in that stat at TPC San Antonio. He came into the Valero at 84th in strokes gained: approach-the-green, but led that category, too. He was 98th in greens in regulation entering the Valero, but first last week. In fact, his 53/72 greens in regulation was tied for his second-best effort on TOUR. And he’s now one-for-one at converting a 54-hole lead/co-lead into a victory.    2. Landry became only the fourth player to rank in the top 10 in strokes gained: approach-the-green (1st) and strokes gained: putting (8th) while winning this season. The others have been Dustin Johnson at the Sentry Tournament of Champions (7th in sg: approach-the-green, 6th in sg: putting); Ryan Armour at the Sanderson Farms Championships (3rd in sg: approach-the-green, 2nd in sg: putting); and Patton Kizzire at the Sony Open in Hawaii (3rd in both). 3. Zach Johnson, who won the Valero Texas Open twice before it moved to TPC San Antonio, might have won the tournament had the front nine been closed for the week. Johnson was even on the front but 13-under on the back over the four rounds. 4. The margin of victory at the Valero, two strokes, qualified as something of a blowout relative to the rest of this season. Going into the Valero, eight of 14 tournaments had been decided by a playoff, and the average margin of victory was one shot. 5. Since the Valero moved to TPC San Antonio in 2010, six third-round leaders/co-leaders have held on to win, with Landry doing so on the heels of Kevin Chappell in 2017. That makes the TPC San Antonio – AT&T Oaks Course one of the best places on TOUR to be a 54-hole leader/co-leader. So far this season, just 12 of 24 leaders/co-leaders have held on for the win in stroke-play events, with Patrick Reed at the Masters the most recent to do it before Landry.

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The second round of the Travelers Championship takes place on Friday from TPC River Highlands. Here’s how to follow all the action. Round 2 leaderboard Round 2 tee times HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1-2:45 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. (featured groups). Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes). International subscribers (via GOLF.tv): Thursday-Friday, 11:030 to 22:00 GMT. Saturday-Sunday, 13:00 to 22:00.  RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.COM). FEATURED GROUPS Bubba Watson/Brooks Koepka/Tony Finau Round 1: 7:45 a.m. ET (No. 10); Round 2: 1 p.m. ET (No. 1) Phil Mickelson/Jordan Spieth/Marc Leishman: Round 1: 1 p.m. ET (No. 1); Round 2: 7:45 a.m. (No. 10) Paul Casey/Jason Day/Bryson DeChambeau Round 1: 12:50 p.m. ET (No. 1); Round 2: 7:35 a.m. ET (No. 10) Patrick Cantlay/Francesco Molinari/Justin Thomas Round 1: 7:35 a.m. (No. 10); Round 2: 12:50 p.m. ET (No. 1) MUST READS Featured Groups Casey continues to shine in Connecticut Burgoon cards opening-round 64 Cantlay stays positive, continues strong play Rising stars take on TPC River Highlands CALL OF THE DAY

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The golden road to the TOUR Championship ends the 2018 portion of the 2018-19 season schedule on the Golden Isles of Georgia this week at The RSM Classic at Sea Island Resort on St. Simons Island. Resort life is the calling again this week as the first full-field event of the season will have 156 players trying to capture the eighth trophy of the new season. This is last call before the holidays and the final attempt to book a place at the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Maui to kick off the new calendar year in early January. The Seaside course will serve as host on the weekend, but everyone will get one chance at Plantation before the field is paired down to the top 70 and ties after Round 2. Austin Cook picked up his first win on TOUR at this event last year and is back to defend his title. The Seaside course has had a hand in all previous eight Classics but it was joined by the 18 holes of Plantation for the 2016 edition. This allowed the field to expand to the maximum of 156 and give the Web.com graduates another crack before the reshuffle after this week. The Seaside track is, relatively speaking, the more difficult of the two while Plantation checks in as one of the least-difficult challenges annually on TOUR. The winning total averages 20-under-par since Plantation was added so there’s no mystery in what will be required AGAIN this week. The lowest of the low will rack up $1.152 million of the $6.4 million prize pool, collect 500 FedExCup points and will book the final place in the field (if not already qualified) at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. TALE OF THE TAPE Last year Cook used just his 14th TOUR start to claim a comfortable four-shot victory in his first attempt at The RSM Classic. That sounds impressive but 2017 champion Mackenzie Hughes won a five-man playoff in just his ninth start in the big leagues! Cook ended up blistering Seaside the first time he saw it to the tune of 62 to tie the 36-hole record. He went one better in Round 3 as he established the new 54-hole mark on 18-under plus matching the largest lead (three shots) after three rounds. The former Monday qualifier du jour for gamers stuck a cherry on top as he cruised home to win by four shots in a blustery final round. He missed tying Kevin Kisner’s tournament record by a shot but his 23 birdies against just two bogeys provided a comfortable maiden victory. Look at those splits above! Hughes needed a playoff plus a Monday finish to vanquish his FOUR opponents who joined him on 17-under after 72 holes. Daylight, not the weather, caused the chilly Monday morning to determine a winner and the Canadian didn’t seem too bothered by the conditions. The first round he played on the Seaside course he popped it for 61 to lead after 18 holes, stressing that previous experience here is a bonus rather than a requirement. As the wind barely blew thru Round 2, 37 bogey-free rounds were accumulated and the cut came in at a whopping 5-under-par. Hughes, and the addition of the breeze, made the proceedings interesting in Round 3 as he took a triple that allowed the field to hang around. Only Henrik Norlander from that group of four returns this year for another crack at the title. The 2016 edition introduced the Plantation course (36 holes) and thereby a full-field event as 156 players would be able to complete play before sunset. South Carolina native Kisner wasted no time blasting the Par-72 Plantation course for 65, a “record” that still stands today. It’s not official because Rounds 1 and 2 both used lift, clean and replace due to wet conditions. The wind blew the first two days but the cut was still 140 (-2) so this isn’t the week to scratch out multiple pars. The gusting winds continued throughout the weekend but Kisner wasn’t fazed. He closed 64-64 to romp to a six-shot victory and picked up his first TOUR victory. He circled 22 birdies and one eagle against only two bogeys as his margin of victory remains the largest in tournament history. NOTE: Golfers inside the top 30-ish in each category last season. * – Finished inside the top 10 since 2010. Scrambling Rank  Golfer  1  *Webb Simpson  5  *Brian Gay  7  *Jim Furyk 13 *Alex Cejka 16 Seamus Power 18 *Chris Kirk 20 Joel Dahmen 23 *Ben Crane 30 *Zach Johnson 32 *Austin Cook 33 *Charles Howell III Par-4 Scoring Rank  Golfer  4  *Webb Simpson 10 *Kevin Streelman 10 *Zach Johnson 15 Joel Dahmen 15 *Chris Kirk 15 Hunter Mahan 27 Aaron Wise 27 *Stewart Cink 27 *C.T. Pan 27 *J.J. Spaun Greens in Regulation Rank  Golfer  2  Sam Ryder  5  *Kevin Streelman  6  *C.T. Pan 16 J.J. Henry 22 Corey Conners 23 *Michael Thompson 27 Tyler Duncan 27 *Charles Howell III 34 *J.J. Spaun 35 Keith Mitchell Birdie-or-Better Percentage Rank  Golfer  8  Ricky Barnes 12 Ollie Schniederjans 13 Brandon Harkins 16 Sam Saunders 22 *Brian Gay 24 Aaron Wise 25 *Rickie Fowler 26 *Tom Hoge 27 Peter Malnati 30 Chesson Hadley Seaside will host three of the four rounds but barely cracks 7,000 yards at 7,005 (Par-70) so the bombers won’t have much of an advantage this week. The wind is always in play here and that’s why the fairways and greens have some girth to them. The Tifdwarf Bermuda greens are the third different putting surface in three weeks but birdies will fly in here just like they did in Las Vegas (Bentgrass) and Mayakoba (Paspalum) as the speeds won’t be anything out of the ordinary. The rough isn’t a factor so scrambling will be required and so will a hot putter. The bunkers and rough off the tee and into the greens will be reserved for the exceptions, not the rules, this week. Seaside resides in the top half of easiest courses on TOUR annually. Plantation has the same grasses and green speeds but adds a pair of Par-5 holes on its 6,907-yard layout. It has ranked inside the top-10 easiest courses on TOUR in the three events it has been used for The RSM Classic. The one chance players will get should see them take advantage of their loop. As we’ve seen at TPC Summerlin and El Camaleon, when scoring is the key, the field opens up greatly. The lack of length on these two tracks won’t decrease that openness this week, either! The cut has been under-par in every event that has required one this fall and that shouldn’t change this week. The last three editions at Sea Island Resort have seen 2-under or BETTER chop the field at the halfway point. Par is about as useful as a belt after Thanksgiving dinner so imagine what bogeys or worse will do to a scorecard! The wind blows on these seaside courses but the scoring the last three years suggests it does not have any major influence on the outcome over the four rounds. Odds and Ends • In the previous eight editions, five winners have picked up their first TOUR victory. • Of the previous four winners, all secured their first TOUR victory. • Five winners had never played the event previously including three of the last four. • There has never been a repeat champion or a multiple winner. • The course record 60 at Seaside was posted by Tommy Gainey in the final round of his victory in 2012. • No current resident has ever finished on top. Rob Bolton’s Power Rankings has added course details and historical values. It’s also who I trust with the weather each week so pay attention!  NOTE: The groups below are comprehensive to assist in data mining. Inclusion doesn’t imply automatic endorsement in every fantasy game as all decisions are specific to your situation. These results range from 2010 thru last season.  

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