SAN ANTONIO – The co-leaders after three rounds at the Valero Texas Open spoke on a gloomy Saturday night about their hopes of playing hard and good one more day.
None of the personal interests were mentioned. One wants to win for the first time in 83 on the PGA TOUR. The others want to win for the first time.
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The final group in the final round of the oldest professional tournament in Texas, celebrating its 99th year on the TOUR, will have Jordan Spieth and Matt Wallace at 12 under par, with Charley Hoffman two strokes behind them. Spieth, a Texan seeking his first Valero Texas Open, wants to evoke the brilliance of his first five seasons, when he won 11 times, including three majors. Wallace, an Englishman with 36 TOUR starts since 2017, has never finished better than third. Hoffman has had no wins since 2016. It was just here at TPC San Antonio, in the sixth oldest professional golf tournament in the world.
The three of them separated on a cool, gloomy afternoon after rain delayed the game for two and a half hours. Spieth and Wallace shot 5 under 67. Hoffman shot 65.
They played the nine backs in a combined 14 strokes below the track mark, which bodes well for those who believe the momentum is transferred.
Spieth has had his opportunities in an upcoming 2021 season. He had a share of the 54-hole lead at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, his first since 2018. He finished tied for fourth place. He did the same thing a week later at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but this time he had the 36–hole too. He tied for third place there.
“I was quite anxious to start it the next day” in Phoenix, said Spieth, whose fight has been well documented and widely discussed since 2017, including after his draw 72 in the fourth round in the desert. “I felt very calm with Pebble,” he said, “and have been in conflict several times since.”
Spieth has had a fair chance of winning four in his five appearances in a stroke play tournament since the January loss at the Farmers Insurance Open (he finished 48th at THE PLAYERS Championship). In each of them, he fails to break 70 in the final round. That pattern must end.
“This week’s goal was to challenge myself and have a chance to win,” Spieth said. “The next goal is to try to put myself in a position to be in control at nine backs.”