Si-Woo Kim narrowly missed a second hole-in-one on consecutive days, and saw his four-shot lead trimmed to one over Monday qualifier Corey Conners after Saturday’s third round of the Valero Texas Open.
Kim, the 2017 THE PLAYERS Championship winner, aced the 16th hole at the TPC San Antonio on Friday, and he missed it by inches on the way to a third round 3-under 69. He was at 15-under, and Connors, trying to become the first Monday qualifier to win on the PGA TOUR since 2010, was a stroke back after shooting a 6-under 66.
Charley Hoffman, the 2016 Valero Texas Open winner, moved up the leaderboard with a birdie-birdie-eagle finish and the week’s best round of 64. He was two back of Kim at 13-under.
Scott Brown turned in a second straight 67, and Jhonattan Vegas also shot 67. Both were at 11-under with Kyoung-Hoon Lee (69) and four strokes back.
Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth started the day tied for second, four shots back. Both finished eight shots out of the lead after ballooning to rounds of 1-over 73.
South Africa’s Dylan Frittelli moved up 15 places to share 46 on the back of a bogey-free back nine that included three birdies. The PGA TOUR rookie’s 69 leaves him at -4, two better than Ernie Els.
The Big Easy moved the wrong way on Saturday after a 74.
Els hit just nine greens in regulation, but his miss on the ninth was placated by a chip-in.
