Corey Conners won the Valero Texas Open for the second time on Sunday, carding a bogey-free four-under 68 for a one-stroke victory ahead of rookie Sam Stevens.

The Canadian world number 40, who won at TPC San Antonio in 2019, had headed into the final day in second place behind Patrick Rodgers, who had five bogeys on Sunday to slip out of contention.

Conners was faultless, with birdies on the par-five second, followed by the sixth, ninth and 15th holes, opening up a three-shot lead upon the latter.

But Stevens stormed into contention with an eagle on the par-four 17th with a brilliant approach off the tee from 299 yards, before missing a nine-foot birdie putt on the 18th that may have forced a playoff.

Conners held his nerve with a three-foot putt for par on the last to secure victory, his second on the PGA Tour, both in San Antonio. The Canadian's next-best PGA result was a third-place finish at last year's Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The final day surge of 26-year-old Stevens came off a six-under 66 that included five birdies and two eagles to finish at 14-under overall.

Stevens' runner-up finish comes a week after coming third at the Corales Puntacana Championship.

Sam Ryder (66 on Sunday) and Matt Kuchar (68) were tied for third at 13 under, with Rodgers ending up with a one-over final day 73 to fall back to 11 under.

Chez Reavie carded a seven-under 65 to finish tied for sixth at 10-under overall, while Rickie Fowler had a final day six-under 66 to end up eight under.

Patrick Rodgers struggled to match his first two rounds at the Valero Texas Open but nevertheless held his nerve to take a one-stoke lead at 12 under into the final day.

The 30-year-old had led overnight after play was halted early on Friday, following an impressive five-under 67 to back up an opening round of six-under 66.

But after carding a more sedate one-under 71 at TPC San Antonio, the American was left with just a single-stroke lead ahead of Canada's Corey Conners, who held on to second place with a three-under 69.

Veteran Matt Kuchar had looked set to challenge for top spot before a double bogey on the 18th derailed his pursuit, though he still finished in a respectable third, three shots off at nine-under for the tournament.

American duo Sam Stevens and Chris Kirk are tied for fourth at eight under, while South Korea's An Byeong-hun and Ireland's Padraig Harrington are among those in a six-way tie for sixth.

Rodgers is chasing a first win on the PGA Tour, having arrived in Texas with six missed cuts from his past eight starts, though he did secure a top-15 finish at the Phoenix Open.

At the conclusion of Friday's play at the Valero Texas Open it was Patrick Rodgers leading the field by three strokes, although many are yet to complete their second round.

Rodgers, 30, has never won on the PGA Tour, and has had an up-and-down season up until this point. While he has two top-10s, and a top-15 at the Phoenix Open, he also came into this event with six missed cuts from his past eight starts.

His six-under 66 was one of the best scores from the opening round, and he followed it with a five-under 67 after birdieing five of his last six holes to race out to a healthy lead.

In a tie for second is Canada's Corey Conners, who would be disappointed to shoot even par after his eight-under start. Joining him at eight under is Mexico's Roberto Diaz, who will have his sights set even higher as he was only through 10 holes in his second round before darkness halted play.

American duo Michael Thompson and Brendon Todd (through 15) are at seven under in a tie for fourth, while Belgium's Thomas Detry is joined by veteran Matt Kuchar and rising talent Eric Cole at six under.

Recent winner of The Honda Classic, Chris Kirk, is part of the logjam at five under rounding out the top 10, and Rickie Fowler has finished right on the projected cut-line at one under.

Justin Lower leads the Valero Texas Open through nine holes with play suspended due to darkness as Padraig Harrington and Matt Kuchar joined the group one stroke behind on Thursday.

The opening round was called off early in fading light, with play having been delayed numerous times in the morning due to fog in South Texas.

Lower, 33, got through the first half of his round, managing an eagle on the par-five 14th hole along with three birdies for a five under start.

Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington, 51, wound back the clock in his 333rd start in his 28th season. The Irishman, playing in familiar conditions, carded a four-under 68 with six birdies.

Fellow veteran Matt Kuchar had a similar round with six birdies and two bogeys for a four-under 68 to be tied for second.

The 44-year-old American and Harrington are alongside South Africa's M.J. Daffue, Mexico's Roberto Diaz and USA's Patrick Rodgers.

Fresh from winning last week's Corales Puntacana Championship, Matt Wallace is in a group of eight players, including Canada's Corey Conners (through nine holes), one stroke behind at three under overall.

Pre-tournament favourite Tyrrell Hatton only got through 10 holes to be two under, while Rickie Fowler and defending champion J.J Spaun were both even after 11 holes.

Jon Rahm was the major casualty from the WGC Match Play on Friday as Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay all advanced with perfect records.

The Spanish second seed was dumped out after losing 5 and 4 to 2021 WGC Match Play winner Billy Horschel in their final Group 2 match at the Austin Country Club in Texas.

Horschel went 1-up with a par on the second hole and never relinquished the lead, with Rahm failing to register a birdie throughout the day's play.

The 36-year-old American pulled away with birdies on the 10th and 11th holes followed by a 21-foot birdie putt on the 14th to clinch a spot in the round of 16 against Cameron Young.

Horschel progressed in a tight group with a 2-0-1 record ahead of Rickie Fowler (2-1-0), Rahm (1-2-0) and Keith Mitchell (0-2-1).

Top seed and reigning champion Scheffler advanced after beating Tom Kim 3 and 2 to round out a 3-0-0 group stage record.

Kim came out strong with birdies on the first two holes to go 2-up, but Scheffler rallied back immediately winning three of the next four holes.

Third seed McIlroy topped Group 3 unblemished after beating Keegan Bradley 3 and 2, while fourth seed Cantlay beat Brian Harman 2 and 1 to top Group 4 with a 3-0-0 record.

Kurt Kitayama won a three-way sudden death playoff over Tony Finau and Adrian Meronk to progress atop Group 10.

Canadian Mackenzie Hughes produced an upset to advance via Group 12 from Taylor Montgomery who he beat 6 and 4. Jordan Spieth, who beat Hughes on Thursday, missed out after losing to Shane Lowry 2 and 1.

J.J. Spaun also pulled off a surprise by topping Group 11 with a 3-0-0 record, downing Min Woo Lee 2 and 1 to seal his progress.

Max Homa, Xander Schauffele, Andrew Putnam, Matt Kuchar, Sam Burns, Lucas Herbert, J.T. Poston, Jason Day and Young also all progressed into Saturday's last 16 knockout stage.

Harold Varner III is in position to claim his maiden PGA Tour victory, shooting an eight-under 63 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead at the RBC Heritage.

Varner matched Cameron Young's opening-round score at Harbour Town with a bogey-free round, to move to 11-under for the tournament coming into the final day.

After a disappointing finish on Friday, going four-over on the final four holes, the 31-year-old responded strongly with four birdies in the opening six holes.

Varner will need to be just as focused on the final day, with quality opponents in striking distance.

Reigning FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay and Erik van Rooyen sit a shot back after 54 holes at 10-under, along with 2019 British Open winner Shane Lowry, fresh off his third-placed finish at the Masters.

Like Varner, Lowry also shot a one-over 72 on Friday and coupled his four birdies on the front nine with bogeys on the third and sixth hole, before finishing strong.

Birdies on the 10th and 11th holes put the Irishman on track and following another birdie on the par-five 15th, he closed his round out with another in front of the iconic lighthouse on the 18th.

The eased conditions allowed the 35-year-old to attack the pin, on the way to shooting his lowest score at Harbour Town.

Former RBC Heritage winner Matt Kuchar, Hudson Swafford, Sepp Straka and Aaron Wise were all a further stroke back, tied at nine-under.

Billy Horschel and Jordan Speith are also among the stacked chasing pack, on eight-under heading into the final day.

JJ Spaun landed the Valero Texas Open title after coming back from a double-bogey on the first hole to shoot 69 in the final round, clinching a place at the Masters in the process.

Spaun finished two strokes clear of the field on 13 under par, with Australian Matt Jones and American Matt Kuchar sharing second place at 11 under.

With his win, the Californian became the first player since Tiger Woods in 2008 to win a PGA Tour event after double-bogeying the opening hole of the final round.

The 31-year-old went bogey-free the rest of the way, collecting birdies on the sixth, eighth, ninth, 11th and 14th holes – giving him a birdie on the par-five 14th hole in all four rounds.

It is the first PGA Tour win of Spaun's career, and with it, he punched his ticket to Augusta National in just a few days.

Spaun said the scale of his achievement was hard to believe.

"I think a year ago to even be on tour I would have been telling you I'd have to do a lot of work to get there," he said.

"But to be here, and to overcome a lot of things and finally get a win, that's everything you dream of. It's incredible. I'm speechless."

On his early double-bogey and how he recovered, he said the moment actually calmed him down.

"It didn't bother me as much as you would think – if anything, it kind of calmed me down," he said.

"I knew there was still a lot of golf, and I would rather double the first hole than the last hole, so I just knew if I stayed patient and kept plugging away and put myself in contention with nine holes to play, that's all I could ask for."

The best performances from the fourth round were a pair of 66s posted by Jones, who finished second, and Keegan Bradley, who jumped up into a tie for eighth.

Among those one stroke worse on the day with 67s were Canadian Adam Hadwin, who finished in a tie for fourth, and Jordan Spieth, who was at even par coming into the round and flew up the leaderboard into a tie for 35th at five under.

Of the three joint-leaders with Spaun coming into Sunday's play, Beau Hossler finished the highest, tied for fourth at 10 under after shooting even par; South African Dylan Frittelli dropped one stroke and tied for eighth; and Brandt Snedeker ended with a whimper, finishing three over for the round to fall to a tie for 18th.

After a scorching start to the week saw Russell Knox as the outright leader with a first-round 65, he followed it with rounds of 76, 71 and 76 again to finish the weekend where the cut-line was at even par.

Brandt Snedeker and Beau Hossler both shot five-under-par 67 to join JJ Spaun and Dylan Frittelli atop the leaderboard, after the third round of the Valero Texas Open on Saturday.

Spaun and Frittelli bogeyed the last par-five 18th hole to finish on 10-under-par after 54 holes, shooting rounds of 69 and 70 respectively on Saturday.

It would have been a five-way tie for the lead had Scott Stallings not also bogeyed the final hole, finding the rough and then the far-side bunker on his second and third shots.

Among the many in the field who have yet to qualify for the US Masters, Matt Kuchar is two strokes back from the leaders on eight-under-par after three rounds.

In what is essentially the final qualifier for the first major of the year, and having missed the cut at Augusta last year, Kuchar is aware of the stakes.

"I think quality play trumps anything," he said.

"I'd take execution over course knowledge any day of the week. I think it's going to take just quality golf tomorrow to win this thing."

After shooting a bogey-free round on Friday, second round leader Ryan Palmer tumbled down the leaderboard on Saturday with a five-over-par 77, finishing in 21st on five-under-par.

Spaun and Hossler are both looking for their first PGA Tour win, while Frittelli last won in 2019 at the John Deere Classic and Snedeker took the Wyndham Championship in 2018.

Hossler finished with momentum on Saturday, making three consecutive birdies from the 14th hole. His career-best finish was a second at the Houston Open in 2018.

A win for Snedeker would make for his 13th trip to Augusta.

Defending champion Sam Burns is one of four players to score a seven-under-par 64, after the first round of play at the Valspar Championship on Thursday.

The world number eight had a busy round on the opening day, with nine birdies and two bogeys. He recovered well after bogey the par-four 16th and reeled off birdies on the final two holes to close out his opening 18 holes.

Following a chaotic weekend at The Players Championship, the Florida weather had a positive effect on the Copperhead course, with Burns reaping the benefits from facilitative greens.

"The greens are really receptive with the rain we’ve gotten last week," he told reporters following his round.

"Yeah, I think the golf course will continue to firm up after we get some sun and wind and I think it’s going to play really well the next few days."

Burns, David Lipsky, Adam Hadwin and Jhonattan Vegas share the lead at Copperhead after the first day of play.

Scott Stallings, Richy Werenski, Davis Riley and Danny Lee are one back at six under, while Justin Thomas, Kramer Hickok and Doc Redman are a further two strokes back.

After missing the cut at TPC Sawgrass, Jason Day opened with a one-under-70, only two weeks after the passing of mother.

Notable names in group at four under include Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar and Louis Oosthuizen.

Out of the co-leaders, though, Lipsky was the only one to go bogey-free, opening with a birdie on the par-five first to set the tone on a confident front nine. He closed out the round with four consecutive pars.

The 33-year-old has never won on the PGA Tour and has not won an event since his time on the European Tour in 2018.

Russell Henley remains in the lead ahead of the final day of the Sony Open in Hawaii but 2021 Masters Championship winner Hideki Matsuyama surged into contention on Saturday.

Henley carded a three-under-round of 67 to maintain his lead after being three strokes ahead at the halfway mark at the Waialae Country Club.

Japanese 29-year-old Matsuyama, though, moved up the leaderboard into second spot, two shots behind Henley, with a seven-under-63 to be 16 under overall.

Henley leads at 18 under, with Matsuyama 16 under, before four players are tied at 14 under in third in Adam Svensson, Seamus Power, Matt Kuchar and Haotong Li.

The American, who won the Sony Open in 2013, had two bogeys and five birdies in his round, including a 16-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to buffer his lead after Matsuyama made his move earlier in the day.

Matsuyama, who carded rounds of 66 and 65 on the first two days, improved with a day-three 63 headlined by four birdies in his final seven holes.

Svensson and Power both hit five-under-rounds of 65 to remain in contention, while Kuchar and Li are close but carded rounds of three-under and two-under to fail to close on Henley.

American Russell Henley holds a three-stroke lead at the halfway mark of the Sony Open in Hawaii after a seven-under-63 on Friday.

Henley, who won the Sony Open in 2013, carded an eight-under-62 on the opening day and backed that up to be 15-under and three shots ahead of second-placed Haotong Li.

Li along with third-placed Matt Kuchar and equal fourth Chris Kirk all carded rounds of five-under-65.

Kirk is one of 10 players tied for fourth alongside Seamus Power, Stewart Cink, Corey Conners, Adam Svensson, Keita Nakajima, Davis Riley, Dylan Wu, Brandt Snedeker, Payton Kizzire and 2021 Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama.

Henley's seven-under-63 was a round-best alongside Cink and Charles Howell III who both surged up the leaderboard.

The 32-year-old American had an even card on the second round before holing a bunker shot for eagle on the 18th hole, his ninth hole of the day.

Henley came home strong with four birdies and an eagle in his final six holes, including a 29-foot eagle putt. He has three PGA Tour titles across his career, the last being in 2017.

Veteran Jim Furyk dropped well off the pace after his fast start, with a two-over-round of 72 leaving him six under at halfway, while day one leader Kevin Na slipped to eight under after a round of one-over-71.

Billy Horschel held off Scottie Scheffler to win the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play for the first time in his career.

Horschel was the last man standing in Austin, where the American outlasted 2020 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Scheffler in Sunday's final 2 and 1.

It was a Horschel and Scheffler showdown after the former had beaten Victor Perez 3 and 2 in the semis, while the latter advanced 1up against 2013 champion Matt Kuchar.

Horschel – the 32nd seed – secured his sixth PGA Tour title at the 17th hole following almost four hours on the course, with the final only featuring two birdies between the pair.

Kuchar, meanwhile, clinched third place by beating Perez 2 and 1 in the play-off.

"I got lucky that I had two guys that were like me, that didn't have their A game today or even maybe their B game," Horschel said. "We didn't hit very good golf shots this morning or even this afternoon and that allowed me to just be smart and not have to be aggressive and try and make birdies.

"Now, if Scottie would have got hot with some iron shots and started making birdies that puts a little bit of pressure on me. But it was just a tough day with this wind, trying to get close to some of these pins and the greens firming up as we played.

"So I'm fortunate. I had two guys today that missed some putts from inside 10 feet that they probably would make the majority of the time and that's obviously why I'm standing here as a champion."

Scheffler – the 30th seed – added: "I'm proud of the way I fought all week. My game was trending in the right direction pretty much the entire time, and this afternoon was really the first time I didn't play my best.

"I think this afternoon was probably my worst round out of the last four. So I grinded it out. I fought really hard and I just wasn't able to make the putts this afternoon."

Billy Horschel, Matt Kuchar, Scottie Scheffler and Victor Perez are all vying for a spot in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play final after a day of upsets in Austin.

Stars Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood and Sergio Garcia surprisingly crashed out in the quarter-finals as the underdogs ruled on Saturday.

The unpredictable tournament continued on the weekend after world number one Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed were unable to advance beyond the group stage.

Spanish third seed Rahm topped Erik van Rooyen 3 and 2 in the last 16 before being upstaged by Scheffler 3 and 1 in the quarter-finals at the Austin Country Club.

"I felt like I played some really good golf," said Scheffler, who will meet Kuchar in an all-American clash for a spot in Sunday's decider. "I think I kept things bogey-free and I got some early leads and made sure that I kept the pressure on those guys and made them feel like they had to do something special to beat me, which they weren't able to do."

Fleetwood – the 21st seed – succumbed to Horschel after 19 holes, while former Masters champion Garcia was beaten by 31st seed Victor Perez 4 and 3.

American golfer Horschel and France's Perez will do battle in the semis.

Englishman Fleetwood was sent packing after hitting a hole-in-one during his last-16 victory – a drive out of bounds at the 12th seeding him come unstuck in the quarters.

It was a big day for 2013 champion Kuchar, who eliminated former world number one Jordan Spieth 1up before defeating Brian Harman 2 and 1.

Kuchar – the 52nd seed – was runner-up in 2019, with last year's event cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Certainly golf's a funny game and I think there are times as a professional where you can feel so far away, you think, golly, I don't have it," Kuchar said.

"I'm racking my brain trying to find it, but then you plug in the right ingredient, the right key, and then all of a sudden it snaps back, and thankfully it's been working and I'm seeing progression. It's just finally now it's clicked and it's a lot more fun this way, I assure you."