Houston Open: 3 things to know after Round 3

The leader seeks his first victory. A former world No. 1 is one shot back. The current world No. 1 is three shots back. A sponsor exemption is four shots back. Fans are attending their first PGA Tour tournament in the U.S. for the first time since the middle of March. The golfers are making up for lost time. Here are three things you need to know after Saturday’s third round of the Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston. 

Sam Burns leads 

Sam Burns bogeyed the 151-yard, par-3 2nd hole. He bogeyed the 593-yard, par-5, 3rd hole. The second-round leader is winless in his two years on Tour, and he was playing like that would continue. 

He played his final 15 holes at 4-under for a 2-under 68, a 9-under total and a one-shot lead over Jason Day and Carlos Ortiz. 

“I think this golf course, you know, it’s not a matter of if, it it’s a matter of when, when this golf course will hit you,” Burns said of his start. “I think for me, just being able to hang in there. I knew, I felt like I was prepared for that if it were to happen, and it did early, so we kind of just stuck with it and tried to keep giving what the golf course gave us, and we were able to put a good round together.”

Jason Day is tied for second 

Day, a former world No. 1 who has not won on Tour since 2018 and has battled various ailments, shot a 3-under 67 and is tied for second with Ortiz. Ortiz, too, is also looking for his first win.

Day would have been tied for the lead had he not three-putted the 18th from 19 feet. 

“Obviously you’d like to hole that one, which I was trying to; unfortunately I just gave it a little bit too much gas,” Day said. “Overall it was a solid day. I think I drove it nice, hit a lot of good iron shots, and I was just very patient out there today, so it was good to see. Looking forward to tomorrow.”

Dustin Johnson is three shots behind 

Dustin Johnson, the current world No. 1 who is playing his first tournament since recovering from Covid-19, and his first overall since the U.S. Open in September, shot a bogey-free, 4-under 66 and is three strokes back. He had opened with a 2-over 72.

“I was driving it well, I was driving it in the fairway, and I was making bogeys from the fairway,” Johnson said of his first round. “Just a little off with the irons, just a little rusty really is all it was, just with thinking and, you know, yeah, just rusty from competition. I just hadn’t played. At home, there’s really nothing that you can simulate to simulate competition no matter how much you practice or how ready you feel like you are. Just until you get out here and you’re kind of playing in competition, you don’t really know where your game’s at.”

Four shots back is Dawie van der Walt, a Korn Ferry Tour player who is playing on a sponsor exemption.