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.

Matt Wallace finally made his PGA Tour breakthrough on Sunday after surging to the top of the leaderboard and securing the Corales Puntacana Championship.

Wallace had threatened to become a winner on the tour for years, with a T7 finish earlier this month at the Valspar Championship marking his fifth season in a row with at least one top 10.

He was one of the form players in the world back in 2018, winning four European Tour events over the course of 17 months, and he parlayed that form into a top-three finish at the PGA Championship and a top-12 result at the U.S. Open in his next start.

The Englishman had actually endured a rocky start to this season, making just two of his previous eight cuts heading into the event in the Dominican Republic, but he excelled at the picturesque Puntacana Resort's Corales Golf Course.

Wallace posted rounds of 67, 66 and 70 before closing with a six-under 66, rattling off four birdies in a row starting on the 13th hole to go from two behind to two ahead. In the process he tied for Sunday's round of the day, finishing with a winning score of 19 under.

Impressive 22-year-old Danish talent Nicolai Hojgaard finished alone in second place at 18 under, birdieing the 17th to pull to within one, before missing a birdie putt on the last hole that would have forced a playoff. American duo Sam Stevens and Tyler Duncan rounded out the top three, tied at 17 under.

The win means Wallace will leap up from 108th in the FedEx Cup standings into the top 50, while Wyndham Clark rose to 35th with his solo sixth finish, and Belgium's Thomas Detry's tie for eighth dropped him from 28th to 30th.

Englishman Matt Wallace leads the Corales Puntacana Championship by one stroke at the halfway point ahead of American pair Sam Stevens and Wyndham Clark.

Wallace, who was third after the first day, carded a second-round six-under-par 66 on Friday to be 11-under overall at the picturesque Puntacana Resort's Corales Golf Course in the Dominican Republic.

The 32-year-old Englishman has never won a PGA Tour event but has a golden opportunity with most of the world's top-ranked players competing at the WGC Match Play.

Wallace's second round was bogey free, carding birdies in four of his final six holes to claim the lead, with early leaders Brice Garnett and Ben Martin scoring 70 and 72 to slip down the leaderboard.

Stevens and Clark are 10-under overall, with the former managing eight birdies with one bogey in his seven-under round.

Clark also carded a seven-under 65, including an eagle on the par-five fourth hole to help launch his surge up the leaderboard.

Tyler Duncan, Akshay Bhatia, Nicolaj Hojgaard and Garnett, who won the event in 2018, are all tied for fourth at eight-under overall. Bhatia carded the best round of the day, with a nine-under 63.

With most of the world's top-ranked players at the WGC Match Play, Brice Garnett and Ben Martin lead the way after Thursday's opening round of the Corales Puntacana Championship.

Played in the Dominican Republic at the picturesque Puntacana Resort's Corales Golf Course, Martin and Garnett both shot bogey-free 66s to sit atop the leaderboard at six under.

While neither player has won a PGA Tour event since at least 2018, they both have a strong history at this event. Garnett's sole win on the tour came here in 2018, while Martin – whose only win came in 2014 – finished runner-up in Punta Cana last season.

Alone in third place is England's Matt Wallace at five under, and he is the only non-American in the top nine as Max McGreevy and Dylan Wu highlight the logjam at four under.

France's Martin Trainer and South Africa's Erik van Rooyen are part of the group tied for 10th at three under, with Belgium's Thomas Detry one further back at two under.

South American talents Emiliano Grillo of Argentina and Colombia's Camillo Villegas are at one under, while the Dominican Republic's own Juan Jose Guerra has a chance to make his first cut on the PGA Tour, sitting tied for 58th at one over.

Thriston Lawrence claimed his second DP World Tour title at the European Masters after edging out Matt Wallace in a play-off at Crans-sur-Sierre.

The 25-year-old climbed into the world's top 100 for the first time as he held his nerve to earn a maiden European Tour success over four rounds.

Lawrence, who triumphed at the 36-hole Joburg Open last November, also became the first South African winner of the title since Ernie Els in 2003.

Following a stunning 67 on Saturday, the world number 129 held a three-shot lead over Wallace heading into the final round of his first European Masters appearance.

He appeared to pick up from where he left off with a magnificent 32-foot birdie on the third hole. However, a double-bogey on the fifth enabled Wallace to close the gap.

The Englishman carded an impressive 66 as he sought a first European Tour victory in nearly four years, while Lawrence's bogey on the 16th culminated in the sixth play-off in 10 editions of this event.

As both players returned to the 18th, Wallace was aiming to maintain his perfect play-off record, having prevailed at the Hero Indian Open and Made in Denmark in 2018.

But there was to be no joy for the 32-year-old this time around. Indeed, a sloppy approach culminated in him pulling a tricky five-foot par putt to tie, handing Lawrence the title.

"It's a privilege to be able to take this victory," the South African said. "There's so much history going around this event and all the past champions, so I can't wait to get my hands on this trophy.

"I was actually quite fine [with going to a play-off]. It's a tricky golf course; you can lose a few shots, especially around [holes] 14 and 15. On the par-fives, you can make a silly mistake and another guy can make birdies.

"I'm just happy with my patience around this weekend; I'm just so pleased to be able to win this.

"Growing up, you always want to be in the top 100 in the world, and to achieve it is quite emotional."

Victor Perez secured his second DP World Tour title and first since 2019 after defeating Ryan Fox in a dramatic play-off at the Dutch Open.

Perez and Matt Wallace, searching for a first tour-level victory since 2018, sat one shot clear of a four-man chasing pack heading into the final day at Bernardus Golf.

Wallace subsequently fell away from the lead as he carded a level-par 72 to finish on 10-under, as Fox and Perez jostled for top spot.

Australian Fox, who started the day one off the lead, birdied four holes and eagled the par-five 12th but recorded a double-bogey on the 18th hole, opening the door for Perez to send the competition to a play-off.

Perez duly obliged by producing a wonderful long-range putt to birdie the par-three 17th, but was only able to par the final hole to conclude on 13-under, leaving a one-hole shoot-out to decide the winner.

The pair could not be separated on their first three returns to the 18th tee, the designated play-off hole, both producing birdies either side of a par before being sent to the 17th to settle the tie.

Perez then delivered another magnificent birdie putt and Fox could only make a three, leaving the Frenchman ecstatic after finally claiming victory.

"There was a fair amount of fortune, I've got to be honest with myself, holing out those long putts in the play-off," said Perez, who moved to 24th in the DP World Tour Rankings with the win.

"I just tried to focus on me all day, that's all I can do, is try to keep a champion mindset and hit good shot after good shot.

"The chips were going to fall where they were going to fall, it's almost impossible to predict what is going to happen in golf: guys come out of nowhere and win tournaments and guys take huge leads.

"You just have to focus on you and not look at the board and I was just fortunate to fall on the right side today."

Meanwhile, Poland's Adrian Meronk ended in third after managing 68 in the fourth round to finish 12-under, with Germany's Marchel Schneider one shot behind in fourth.

Sebastian Soderberg was part of the initial chasing pack but, on a low-scoring day, his one-under 71 only proved enough to share fifth place with Wallace.

Jordan Spieth returned to the winners' circle and just in time for the upcoming Masters after celebrating a drought-ending Texas Open victory.

Not since winning the 2017 Open Championship had former world number one Spieth claimed a title on the PGA Tour.

But American star Spieth – tied for the lead at the end of the third round – ended his agonising wait at TPC San Antonio on Sunday following 1,351 days.

Spieth snapped a slump that lasted almost four years, posting a six-under-par 66 and seven birdies for a two-stroke victory ahead of Charley Hoffman (66) at 18 under overall.

Three-time major champion Spieth will now return to Augusta – the scene of his 2015 triumph – on April 8 with renewed confidence after emerging from the wilderness.

Spieth – who threatened to break through this year, having either been leader or co-leader at the Phoenix Open and Pebble Beach Pro-Am before finishing tied for fourth and third respectively – earned his 12th PGA Tour title.

The 27-year-old and 2015 Texas Open runner-up became the 92nd player in Tour history to reach 12 wins and moved into a tie for 82nd on the all-time list.

Five players in the last 40 years have earned 12 titles before turning 28 – Phil Mickelson (27 years and 209 days), Tiger Woods (23 years and 243 days), Rory McIlroy (27 years and 124 days), Justin Thomas (26 years and 251 days) and now Spieth (27 years and 251 days).

Hoffman – the 2016 champion – threatened to derail Spieth's bid to end his long wait, having moved within a shot of the lead before the latter birdied the 17th hole.

Spieth made Hoffman settle for back-to-back runners-up cheques after he finished second in 2019 prior to the 2020 event being cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Matt Wallace (70) finished outright third and four shots adrift of Spieth, two strokes better off than Lucas Glover (66).