Following a third-round 68 that left him three back of leader Matt Kuchar, Zach Johnson talks with Fred Albers of SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio.

Tim Clark leads the field in strokes gained-putting at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Cololnial.
(Halleran/Getty Images)

By Fred Albers, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Matt Kuchar showed his usual patience on the golf course and it paid off with a third-round score of 69 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial on Saturday.

Kuchar made back-to-back bogeys on the seventh and eighth holes but never panicked.  On the par-3 13th hole, his tee shot sailed long into a back bunker. From a downhill, side-hill lie, Kuchar hit it 3 feet, right below the cup and made par.  It was the shot of the day.   Kuchar has so much confidence; he can afford to play with patience.  When he hits a bad shot, he has the confidence he can reclaim that lost stroke.  That takes both patience and ability, and Kuchar has both in abundance.

Observations

Final hole: 

If someone needs to make a 21-foot putt on the final hole, I’m betting on John Rollins.  He made a 21-footer on the 18th hole on Thursday and did it again on Saturday.  Rollins also made a 29-footer on the 17th hole and had 99 feet worth of putts in the third round.

Forecast:  PGA TOUR officials were not optimistic on Saturday morning.  A line of storms was moving up from Austin and Fort Worth was in a direct path.  The rain and lightning were due to arrive at noon with several smaller storms to follow.   A couple brief showers were all that developed.  The forecast for Sunday calls for high humidity, sunny skies and wind.  Nothing separates a tightly bunched leaderboard like a windy day.

Big hitter:  Just looking at Graham DeLaet, you would never guess he is a long hitter.  The Canadian measures 5-foot-11 and is a slim 165 pounds.  It is all muscle.  DeLaet cranked a 347-yard drive on the 11th hole and then reached the par 5 in two with a second from 266 yards leading to birdie.  Those numbers are not flukes.  DeLaet leads the tournament in driving distance at 311 yards and is ranked eighth on TOUR this year with a 301-yard average.

Texans:  The leaderboard is full of Texans.  From Chris Stroud to Martin Flores to Rollins, there are several local players with a chance to win.  Ryan Palmer and Jordan Spieth got the early attention but Flores was born in Fort Worth and still lives in the area.  You could easily tell where he was located on the golf course from the size of the gallery and the roar of his fans.  Flores’ fans have had plenty to cheer.  He has missed 19 greens and saved par 16 times.

Inconsistent:  Spieth is so scary good, he is slated for superstardom, but we also tend to forget he is just 19.  The teenager shows flashes of brilliance and then fails to maintain the momentum.  His round on Saturday included five birdies but was offset with four bogeys and a double.  Spieth is in the process of learning to channel his emotions in order to play with a level of calmness.  He has so much talent, it will be a very quick learning curve and Spieth might win this year as a teenager.

Putting:  Tim Clark is having a good week on and around the greens.  He has putting rounds of 27-28-23 and is No. 1 in strokes gained putting this week.  Clark’s short game has also sparkled.  He is 6-for-7 in bunker saves and is ranked third in scrambling.  Clark has missed 21 greens this week but has saved par on 17 of those misses.

Fred Albers is a course reporter for SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio.  For more information on SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio, click here

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Boo Weekley discussed his 4-under 66 in Saturday's third round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial with Tom Werme from SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio.

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Matt Kuchar ended a long Saturday by maintaining his lead atop a crowded leaderboard at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

Kuchar shot a 1-under 69 and is at 11 under through 54 holes. He leads by one shot over Boo Weekley, Graham DeLaet, Matt Every and Chris Stroud. Four more players are two shots back: Tim Clark, John Rollins, Steve Flesch and Martin Flores. Ten more players are within another two shots of the lead including defending champion Zach Johnson, who is at 8 under, and 19-year-old Jordan Spieth of Dallas, who is at 7 under.

"It's going to be a shootout," Weekley said.

Kuchar will be joined by Every in the final pairing on Sunday; their tee time is set for 2:05 p.m. ET (1:05 p.m. local). Stroud and Weekley are in the next-to-last group.

Kuchar and 53 other players had to get up early to complete their second rounds before completing their third rounds in the afternoon. Kuchar led by one over DeLaet after the completion of that round.

"This morning feels like a day ago," Kuchar said when his third round finally ended more than 12 hours after he woke up.

"It would've been nice to extend my lead. Tomorrow will be an exciting day."

Once the third round began, Kuchar birdied the opening hole and maintained at least a share of the lead until he suffered consecutive bogeys at the seventh and eighth holes. DeLaet then vaulted into the lead with a birdie at the seventh. 

But the Canadian struggled down the stretch, bogeying three of his final six holes. He managed to birdie the 18th to shoot 69 and jump into a tie for second.

Spieth had a share of the lead when he birdied the par-4 fifth -- his third birdie of the round -- to go to 11 under. But he bogeyed the next hole and dropped four more shots in the next nine holes to fall off the pace.

"I just made some mental errors -- just rookie mistakes that cost me about four shots," said Spieth, who shot a 71.

Clark and Martin Flores shot the low rounds of the day, 5-under 65s.

Jordan Spieth had a share of the lead early on Saturday but faded as his round continued. (Halleran/Getty Images)

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Jordan Spieth birdied three of his first five holes in Saturday's third round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. That last birdie gave him a share of the lead.

It vanished quickly. Spieth posted four bogeys and a double bogey during a 10-hole stretch in the middle of his round and went from co-leader to chaser, four shots behind leader Matt Kuchar going into Sunday's final round.

For the 19-year-old Dallas native, it was a frustrating turn of events.

"I can't focus too much on today," Spieth said. "I'm really happy with the way I putted. I just made some mental errors -- just rookie mistakes that cost me about four shots. Otherwise, I'd be tied for the lead."

Spieth said he was pushing to get a few more birdies after he went to 11 under and a share of the lead with Matt Kuchar early in his round. But he suffered bogeys at the sixth and ninth holes.

After a birdie at the par-4 11th, Spieth saw his approach shot into the par-4 12th plug into the greenside bunker to set up a bogey.

Then he picked the wrong club at the par-3 13th and found the water with his tee shot. "It was a decision that obviously looks bad afterward," he said.

Spieth said he "just got fooled big-time by the wind on four or five holes," including his approach at the 15th when he found the water for the second time in his round and made bogey.

"I just guessed incorrectly twice in a row," he said. "If I guess it right on both 13 and 15, I maybe save three shots. So it's just tough luck.

"I'm happy to close with a birdie and carry it into tomorrow only four back."

Tim Clark during Saturday's third round at Colonial (Halleran/Getty Images)

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Tim Clark has never won at Colonial. But he's used to being in contention.

Clark has finished tied for second twice at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, and has four other top-20 finishes here.

So it's really no surprise that he's sniffing the top of the leaderboard again, having shot a third-round 5-under 65 on Saturday to move to 9 under going into the final day.

"I've been in this position a lot, so again, it's about for me staying aggrssive on this golf course," Clark said. "When you try to play it safe, it can come back and get you. So I just need to stay aggressive."

After opening with a 3-under 67, Clark followed with a 69 on Friday in which he hit an unusually low 5 of 14 fairways. But he bounced back on Saturday with his normal accuracy off the tee, hitting 11 of 14 fairways.

Clark said he woke up Friday with a "crook neck" that ultimately needed therapy after his round.

"Yesterday was really bad," Clark said. "Luckily I kind of got it figured out and today the swing felt good."

Clark, whose lone PGA TOUR win is the 2010 THE PLAYERS Championship, ranks third in driving accuracy this year but 178th in distance. Some courses are simply too long for him.

Colonial is not.

"For a guy who doesn't hit it very far," Clark said, "this is a very good golf course to come in and do some shot-making."

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Boo Weekley holed a 40-foot putt on the par-4 12th for a birdie in Saturday's third round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

Weekley was 9 under for the tournament through his first 16 holes of the third round.

Watch Martin Flores birdie the 18th hole Saturday at Colonial.

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Martin Flores grew up in Mansfield, a suburb of Fort Worth. But he never made it out to Colonial Country Club to watch the annual PGA TOUR event.

"I was always practicing," Flores said, "trying to play out here."

Well, he's out here now. And after three rounds of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, he's in position to make a run at his first TOUR win.

Thanks to a 5-under 65 in Saturday's third round, Flores is 9 under through 54 holes, which will give him a late tee time on Sunday.

"It puts me in good position," Flores said. "I still have a lot of work to do. There are a lot of great players, and I've got to keep making birdies."

Flores was bogey-free for his first 16 holes until his only stumble of the day at the 17th when he ran his 49-foot birdie putt about 13 feet past the hole. But he bounced back with a birdie at the 18th. His 65 ties for the low round of the day.

Flores said he "got a little aggressive" with that birdie putt at 17, but thats how he plans to play on Sunday, especially with all his family and friends in his gallery.

His gameplan? "To stay aggressive," he said. "Keep making birdies."

FORT WORTH, Texas -- We take a closer look at Graham DeLaet’s swing off the tee on the 193-yard, par-3 eighth hole. DeLaet currently leads the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial midway through Saturday's third round.

Bud Cauley is looking for his first PGA TOUR win. (Cohen/Getty Images)

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Bud Cauley came into this week's Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial on a streak he'd rather avoid.

In his previous 12 rounds on the PGA TOUR prior to Thursday, Cauley had failed to break 70. That included his last start, THE PLAYERS Championship, in which he shot 78-72 and missed the cut. He hadn't shot a round in the 60s since a third-round 65 at the Shell Houston Open in late March.

But he opened with a 3-under 67 at Colonial to break his streak, and on Saturday, he posted his third consecutive round in the 60s, a 4-under 66 that vaulted him up the leaderboard.

Cauley is 8 under through 54 holes and should be within striking distance of the lead going into Sunday's final round.

"The golf course fits my eye," Cauley said. "I definitely feel comfortable, but you still have to go out there and execute. That's what I've been trying to do."

The third round was not a particular great ball-striking round for Cauley, who hit just 9 of 18 greens in regulation. But he saved par four of the five times he found a bunker, and he needed just 23 putts on his round.

Cauley's best finish this year in 13 starts is a tie for 10th at the Valero Texas Open.

"I started hitting it a little bit better," Cauley said. "I'm going to keep working on the things I've been working on. And obviously short game is what it's all about anyway, so I keep working on that and go out and try to make some birdies tomorrow."