2016 AT&T Byron Nelson: Tee times, pairings for Sunday’s final round

The Byron Nelson is supposed to be one of those lower-tier events that help bridge the gap between The Players and the U.S. Open. It wasn’t always that way, of course, with Lord Byron presiding over the week and almost every top player in the game making the trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth area to pay their respects and play in his event. It’s receded over the years but Sunday’s edition is set up to be one of the best final rounds of the year on the PGA Tour.

The golden child and Dallas native Jordan Spieth will play in the final group, which is really all the juice this event needed. This was the tournament where Spieth made his debut and actually competed late on Sunday as a 16 year old, finishing in a tie for 16th place. But as a pro in the intervening years, Spieth has not really contended at TPC Las Colinas. There have been successes every where else around the globe, but for whatever reason, he’s not been in the mix on Sundays at the Byron Nelson since he was in high school.

That will change on Sunday when Spieth goes out with Brooks Koepka in the final round anchor tee time at 1:50 p.m. ET. That is just about as good a final twosome as this event could have hoped for when things started on Thursday morning. Spieth is the obvious headliner, but Koepka is also one of those up-and-coming bombers that sticks out and gets your attention during these non-major weeks on Tour. Spieth did not look especially sharp on Saturday, but the stats still indicated he had an above average round. Repeated misses both off the tee and with his irons over the final few holes at the CBS crews hitting the panic button, however, and the crowd favorite finished two shots behind Koepka.

In addition to that power pairing that will go off last, there are a couple other big names also in contention. Sergio Garcia made his U.S. debut as a pro here 17 years ago, posting a 62 as a teenager. He won the event in 2004 but hasn’t played here in five years. Now he’s back in contention again, just three shots behind Koepka at 13-under. Also three back is Matt Kuchar, who is a moneymaking machine on Tour but has not won in more than two years. This is another opportunity for Kuch and while he will be one of the key players for the broadcast late on Sunday, it’s those final two who will get most of the shine.

It’s a perfect scenario for the folks at the Nelson, who offer a deep purse but are always fighting for attention in space in late May. Here’s the full tee sheet for Sunday’s final round: