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Jimmy Walker leads hometown Texas Open by four

 
Published March 29, 2015

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Jimmy Walker opened a four-stroke lead over fellow Texan Jordan Spieth, shooting 3-under 69 on Saturday in his hometown Texas Open.

Walker, who lives 35 minutes away from TPC San Antonio, is looking for his fifth title in two PGA Tour seasons. He had 9-under 207 total after opening with rounds of 71 and 67.

"It's a tough golf course," said Walker, the winner of the Sony Open in Hawaii in January. "I thought coming into today that even par or maybe 1 under would be a good score. You definitely want to find a way to extend the lead, but you have to be smart about it."

Spieth shot 71. The 21-year-old Dallas player, coming off a playoff win two weeks ago at Innisbrook, had a double bogey, two bogeys and two birdies on the final six holes. "It's not ideal — I really look for more consistency," he said.

FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel birdied the final three holes for 69 to get to 3 under. "I wanted to give myself some opportunities coming in," he said. "It was a nice one to get at 16 — it was blowing downwind and that green has been pretty firm all week. And they had the tees moved up at 17 and 18, just straight downwind today."

Five players were seven back of Walker. Zach Johnson birdied the last two holes for 72, Chesson Hadley had a 71, tour rookie Scott Pinckney shot 69, 2011 champion Brendan Steele had 72, and Jason Kokrak finished with 71.

Phil Mickelson was at par after 74. He had all sorts of short-game troubles while shooting a front-nine 40. But he nearly holed out for double-eagle from 258 yards on the par-5 14th. His eagle put him back in red figures, but he bogeyed 16.

Tied making the turn, Walker broke away from Spieth with a two-shot swing on the par-5 14th and extended when Spieth hit his tee shot at the par-3 16th into more trouble well right of the grandstand.

Champions Tour: Kevin Sutherland birdied three of the final six holes for 5-under 67 and the second-round lead at the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in Saucier. Those birdies pushed him to the top and he protected the lead with key par saves from bunkers on the last two holes, including one from a buried lie and awkward stance on the par-3 17th. "I didn't have a stance and the ball's plugged," he said. "If someone would have given me a 4, I would have taken it. I thought if I could just pop it out I might could run it up to the hole. I was just hoping to get a putt at it and I did and I was fortunate enough to make it. Just ended up in a bad spot but was able to make the best of it." Sutherland, the one-time PGA Tour winner who shot the first 59 in Champions Tour history last year in Endicott, N.Y., chipped in for birdie from behind the 12th green and birdied Nos. 15 and 16. He had a two-stroke lead over Tom Lehman, who climbed the leaderboard with a bogey-free 66, highlighted by a 50-foot birdie putt on the par-3 eighth.

LPGA: Mirim Lee took the Kia Classic lead and top-ranked Lydia Ko easily increased her tour under-par streak to 27 rounds but dropped two late strokes and ended up four behind in Carlsbad, Calif. Lee shot 6-under 66 to reach 16-under 200 at Aviara, leaving her a stroke ahead of former UCLA player Alison Lee in the final event before the first major of the season next weekend at Rancho Mirage.