Matt Kuchar began the third round one stroke off the lead, but jumped ahead on the first hole and remained there, pulling away from the field. At 15-under, Kuchar has a four-stroke lead heading into the final round.
Shell Houston Open 2014: Matt Kuchar distances himself from the field
A third straight round in the 60s has Matt Kuchar in the lead at the Houston Open.
Scott Halleran
Playing in the final group, Kuchar opened the round with a birdie, one of three in his first five holes. He leapfrogged Sergio Garcia on the opening hole and took the lead for good at No. 4. Three straight birdies on Nos. 12 through 14 had him 16-under overall. Kuchar would have had an even bigger lead, but dropped a shot on No. 18 with a three putt. Even with the late blemish, his 4-under 68 was good for the low round of the day. Kuchar will be in contention on Sunday for the second straight week, a positive trend heading into the Masters next week.
“It’s a nice position to have played well last week, to have been in the last group with a chance to win and again to come back this week, completely different course and have another shot to win,” Kuchar said, via PGATour.com.
While Kuchar continued to surge, Garcia was unable to keep up. The 36-hole leader dropped into a tie for second at 11-under. He opened the round with a bogey on No. 1 and finished with three bogeys and two birdies for a 1-over round of 73. Garcia is tied for second with Cameron Tringale, and the two will join Kuchar in the final pairing on Sunday.
Phil Mickelson remained at 6-under with a third-round 72. Rory McIlroy shot a 2-over 74, dropping to 1-under and 14 strokes off the lead. Here is a complete look at the leaderboard through 54 holes.
Place | Player | Score | 1st Round | 2nd Round | 3rd Round | Total |
1 | Matt Kuchar | -15 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 201 |
T2 | Cameron Tringale | -11 | 68 | 68 | 69 | 205 |
T2 | Sergio Garcia | -11 | 67 | 65 | 73 | 205 |
4 | Matt Jones | -9 | 68 | 68 | 71 | 207 |
T5 | Rickie Fowler | -8 | 70 | 70 | 68 | 208 |
T5 | Ben Curtis | -8 | 67 | 70 | 71 | 208 |
7 | Shawn Stefani | -7 | 67 | 69 | 73 | 209 |
T8 | Jon Curran | -6 | 69 | 72 | 69 | 210 |
T8 | Retief Goosen | -6 | 68 | 71 | 71 | 210 |
T8 | J.B. Holmes | -6 | 66 | 73 | 71 | 210 |
T8 | Phil Mickelson | -6 | 68 | 70 | 72 | 210 |
T12 | Andres Romero | -5 | 72 | 69 | 70 | 211 |
T12 | Chris Stroud | -5 | 68 | 72 | 71 | 211 |
T12 | Brice Garnett | -5 | 68 | 71 | 72 | 211 |
T12 | Ryan Palmer | -5 | 70 | 68 | 73 | 211 |
T16 | Brian Gay | -4 | 71 | 70 | 71 | 212 |
T16 | Charl Schwartzel | -4 | 67 | 75 | 70 | 212 |
T16 | Hunter Mahan | -4 | 69 | 72 | 71 | 212 |
T16 | Martin Flores | -4 | 68 | 72 | 72 | 212 |
T16 | Erik Compton | -4 | 66 | 73 | 73 | 212 |
T16 | Jim Renner | -4 | 66 | 72 | 74 | 212 |
T16 | Jason Gore | -4 | 67 | 71 | 74 | 212 |
T23 | Luke Donald | -3 | 71 | 71 | 71 | 213 |
T23 | Lee Westwood | -3 | 70 | 72 | 71 | 213 |
T23 | Graham Delaet | -3 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 213 |
T23 | Michael Putnam | -3 | 68 | 72 | 73 | 213 |
T23 | Camilo Villegas | -3 | 67 | 73 | 73 | 213 |
T23 | Steve Stricker | -3 | 68 | 69 | 76 | 213 |
T23 | Jimmy Walker | -3 | 71 | 65 | 77 | 213 |
T30 | John Huh | -2 | 71 | 71 | 72 | 214 |
T30 | Webb Simpson | -2 | 68 | 73 | 73 | 214 |
T30 | Russell Henley | -2 | 73 | 69 | 72 | 214 |
T30 | Freddie Jacobson | -2 | 68 | 72 | 74 | 214 |
T30 | Nicholas Thompson | -2 | 71 | 69 | 74 | 214 |
T30 | Ryo Ishikawa | -2 | 69 | 74 | 71 | 214 |
T30 | Justin Hicks | -2 | 67 | 73 | 74 | 214 |
T37 | Brian Harman | -1 | 70 | 71 | 74 | 215 |
T37 | Jonathan Byrd | -1 | 68 | 74 | 73 | 215 |
T37 | Rory McIlroy | -1 | 70 | 71 | 74 | 215 |
T37 | Carl Pettersson | -1 | 69 | 74 | 72 | 215 |
T37 | Bill Haas | -1 | 65 | 74 | 76 | 215 |
T42 | Jeff Overton | E | 73 | 69 | 74 | 216 |
T42 | Jeff Maggert | E | 69 | 73 | 74 | 216 |
T42 | Angel Cabrera | E | 68 | 73 | 75 | 216 |
T42 | Stewart Cink | E | 67 | 75 | 74 | 216 |
T42 | Brendon Todd | E | 69 | 74 | 73 | 216 |
T42 | Keegan Bradley | E | 66 | 77 | 73 | 216 |
T42 | James Hahn | E | 71 | 72 | 73 | 216 |
T42 | Robert Garrigus | E | 74 | 69 | 73 | 216 |
T42 | John Rollins | E | 68 | 76 | 72 | 216 |
T42 | Ben Crane | E | 70 | 74 | 72 | 216 |
T42 | Brendon de Jonge | E | 71 | 73 | 72 | 216 |
T53 | Chris Kirk | 1 | 68 | 74 | 75 | 217 |
T53 | John Merrick | 1 | 74 | 68 | 75 | 217 |
T53 | David Toms | 1 | 71 | 71 | 75 | 217 |
T53 | Michael Thompson | 1 | 67 | 73 | 77 | 217 |
T53 | Ricky Barnes | 1 | 70 | 73 | 74 | 217 |
T53 | Kyle Stanley | 1 | 69 | 74 | 74 | 217 |
T59 | Jhonattan Vegas | 2 | 67 | 75 | 76 | 218 |
T59 | Harrison Frazar | 2 | 71 | 71 | 76 | 218 |
T59 | Greg Chalmers | 2 | 69 | 74 | 75 | 218 |
T59 | Ernie Els | 2 | 68 | 76 | 74 | 218 |
T59 | Tyrone van Aswegen | 2 | 71 | 73 | 74 | 218 |
T59 | Bubba Dickerson | 2 | 74 | 70 | 74 | 218 |
T65 | Davis Love III | 3 | 68 | 73 | 78 | 219 |
T65 | Charley Hoffman | 3 | 65 | 76 | 78 | 219 |
T65 | Kevin Chappell | 3 | 71 | 72 | 76 | 219 |
T65 | Henrik Stenson | 3 | 71 | 72 | 76 | 219 |
T65 | John Mallinger | 3 | 72 | 72 | 75 | 219 |
T70 | Tommy Gainey | 4 | 71 | 72 | 77 | 220 |
T70 | Hudson Swafford | 4 | 70 | 74 | 76 | 220 |
T72 | Stephen Ames | 5 | 72 | 71 | 78 | 221 |
T72 | J.J. Henry | 5 | 72 | 71 | 78 | 221 |
T74 | Kevin Kisner | 6 | 71 | 70 | 81 | 222 |
T74 | Justin Leonard | 6 | 70 | 71 | 81 | 222 |
76 | Roberto Castro | 10 | 71 | 72 | 83 | 226 |
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