Golf

2014 Valero Texas Open: Steven Bowditch leads, Phil Mickelson withdraws

The third round of the Texas Open is in the books and while Steven Bowditch continues to lead, the big story from the third round was Phil Mickelson pulling out of the tournament.

by Mark Sandritter

Mar 30, 2014, 4:13 AM UTC

Darren Carroll

It was an eventful Saturday at the Texas Open with one big name surging, another withdrawing and one player now 18 holes away from booking his ticket to the Masters. Steven Bowditch remained in the lead with another solid round and Matt Kuchar will be among the players chasing on Sunday. Phil Mickelson will not, as the left-hander was forced to withdraw due to a pulled muscle.

Mickelson narrowly made the cut, finishing the second round at 3-over, just on the inside of the cut line. Things started off well enough on Saturday as he played through his first nine holes without issue. Mickelson parred his 10th hole, but pulled a muscle swinging too hard. When the pain didn’t go away, he withdrew from the tournament on the next hole.

“My back’s feeling great, my body’s been feeling great,” Mickelson said, via PGATour.com. “I felt as good as I have all year. My speed is back, I was hitting the ball hard, driving it great. I pulled a muscle on my downswing trying to hit the ball hard on the (first hole -- his 10th). It just killed and it wouldn’t subside for 10 or 12 seconds.”

Mickelson said he hopes to be able to play in the Shell Houston Open next week but it would depend on how the pulled muscle reacts. His status for the Masters is now at least somewhat in question.

As for the players still in the field, Bowditch increased his second-round lead thanks to a 4-under 68. He improved to 12-under for the tournament, three strokes ahead of the field. There will be plenty on the line on Sunday as a win would be his first PGA Tour victory while also giving him a berth in the Masters. If he’s able to hang on, he’ll have to hold off the rest of the field, including Kuchar who sits in second place at 9-under.

Kuchar shot a 65 in the third round, jumping 14 spots up the leaderbaord. He’ll be one of four players who start the final round within five strokes of the lead. Here is a complete look at the leaderboard through 54 holes.

Place	Player	Score	1st Round	2nd Round	3rd Round	Total
1	Steven Bowditch	-12	69	67	68	204
T2	Matt Kuchar	-9	70	72	65	207
T2	Andrew Loupe	-9	67	70	70	207
4	Pat Perez	-8	68	71	69	208
5	Kevin Na	-7	70	70	69	209
T6	Daniel Summerhays	-6	72	68	70	210
T6	Chad Collins	-6	71	66	73	210
T8	Ryan Palmer	-5	72	71	68	211
T8	Zach Johnson	-5	70	71	70	211
T8	Will MacKenzie	-5	69	72	70	211
T11	Jim Furyk	-4	70	74	68	212
T11	Geoff Ogilvy	-4	74	69	69	212
T11	Jerry Kelly	-4	71	71	70	212
T14	Stephen Ames	-3	74	71	68	213
T14	Jordan Spieth	-3	75	70	68	213
T14	Bo Van Pelt	-3	69	73	71	213
T14	Andrew Svoboda	-3	73	73	67	213
T14	Chesson Hadley	-3	69	73	71	213
T14	Wes Roach	-3	75	66	72	213
T14	Freddie Jacobson	-3	70	70	73	213
T21	Brice Garnett	-2	70	73	71	214
T21	Carl Pettersson	-2	70	73	71	214
T21	Justin Hicks	-2	69	73	72	214
T24	Charley Hoffman	-1	70	75	70	215
T24	Russell Knox	-1	74	70	71	215
T24	William McGirt	-1	72	71	72	215
T24	Martin Flores	-1	71	71	73	215
T24	Trevor Immelman	-1	70	71	74	215
T24	Brendon Todd	-1	71	76	68	215
T30	Justin Leonard	E	76	69	71	216
T30	Brendon de Jonge	E	73	72	71	216
T30	Briny Baird	E	72	72	72	216
T30	Michael Thompson	E	70	75	71	216
T30	Seung-yul Noh	E	69	76	71	216
T30	Michael Putnam	E	72	71	73	216
T30	Cameron Beckman	E	69	70	77	216
T37	Cameron Tringale	1	71	74	72	217
T37	Scott Brown	1	70	74	73	217
T37	Brian Gay	1	73	71	73	217
T37	Jamie Lovemark	1	73	72	72	217
T37	Ben Curtis	1	70	75	72	217
T37	Johnson Wagner	1	73	73	71	217
T37	Brian Harman	1	70	72	75	217
T37	Kevin Foley	1	74	73	70	217
T37	James Hahn	1	71	70	76	217
T37	John Mallinger	1	74	73	70	217
T37	Bronson La'Cassie	1	74	73	70	217
T48	Andres Romero	2	71	74	73	218
T48	Tim Wilkinson	2	74	70	74	218
T48	John Senden	2	72	73	73	218
T48	Brooks Koepka	2	71	74	73	218
T48	Jeff Maggert	2	72	74	72	218
T48	Joe Ogilvie	2	74	73	71	218
T48	Jimmy Walker	2	76	71	71	218
T48	Josh Teater	2	71	70	77	218
T56	Miguel Angel Carballo	3	69	76	74	219
T56	Troy Merritt	3	73	72	74	219
T56	Troy Matteson	3	72	73	74	219
T56	Brian Davis	3	71	72	76	219
T56	Fred Funk	3	70	72	77	219
T56	Jason Kokrak	3	71	71	77	219
T56	J.B. Holmes	3	72	75	72	219
T56	Mike Weir	3	76	71	72	219
T64	Alex Aragon	4	70	74	76	220
T64	Scott Gardiner	4	74	69	77	220
T64	Luke Guthrie	4	74	72	74	220
T64	John Peterson	4	74	72	74	220
T64	Greg Chalmers	4	73	73	74	220
T64	Charlie Beljan	4	70	76	74	220
T64	Aaron Baddeley	4	70	71	79	220
T64	Richard Lee	4	72	75	73	220
*Secondary Cut 4-over*
Cut	Alex Prugh	5	71	73	77	221
Cut	Robert Streb	5	72	72	77	221
Cut	Charlie Wi	5	73	73	75	221
Cut	Stuart Appleby	5	70	77	74	221
Cut	Jim Herman	6	73	73	76	222
Cut	Camilo Villegas	8	71	73	80	224
Cut	Tyrone van Aswegen	8	71	76	77	224
Cut	Branden Grace	11	72	73	82	227
Cut	John Merrick	11	72	75	80	227