Lovemark, Herman ahead at Houston Open

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bruced
April 3, 2016

Jamie Lovemark and Jim Herman will head into the final round of the Houston Open with a one-shot lead.

Lovemark found himself in a share of the lead after carding a two-under-par 70, while Herman fired a five-under-par 67 to reach the summit of the leaderboard.

Lovermark and Herman, who are on 11-under, are closely followed by Henrik Stenson, Dustin Johnson and Russell Henley.

Rickie Fowler is four shots adrift of the lead in a tie for 10th, while world number two Jordan Spieth is five strokes behind Lovemark and Herman in a tie for 14th.

Lovemark, who is within touching distance of his first PGA Tour title and playing in his first Masters tournament, began his round with a hat-trick of birdies from the second to fourth before recording a bogey at the fifth after finding the tree outline. Lovemark did not have as much success on the back nine as he started with a birdie at the 10th before missing a 10-foot par putt to register his second bogey of the round.

Herman, who is in the same boat as Lovemark, kicked off his round with a 14-foot birdie putt at the second before going on to make two more to round off a highly successful front nine. The 38-year-old maintained his momentum on the back nine as he made two more birdies, which included a 19-foot putt at the 15th.

Stenson surged up 17 spots on the leaderboard on Saturday as he carded a six-under-par 66, which saw him make four birdies and a bogey on the front nine. The Swede stayed in red-hot form on the back nine as he made three birdies, including 26-foot putt at the 11th and a 22-foot putt at the 15th.

Johnson maintain his position on the leaderboard after hitting a 70, which began with him enduring a turbulent front nine as it consisted of a birdie, two bogeys and a 17-foot eagle putt at the par-five eighth. Two more birdies followed on the back nine along with another bogey.

Henley carded his second consecutive round of 68 and started by holing out from 121 yards for an eagle at the par-four first. Consecutive birdies followed at the third and fourth, along with a bogey at the seventh. He began the back nine with a double bogey at the par-four 11th, which occurred after his tee shot fell into the water, before proceeding to make three birdies.

Fowler fired a second successive 70 on Saturday and began by making four birdies, which included a 19-foot putt at the fourth, and two bogeys on the front nine. His back nine was much quieter as it consisted of just one birdie and a bogey.

Meanwhile, Spieth also registered a 70 and got off to a decent start as he made two birdies, which included a 35-foot chip-in from the rear green side bunker at the seventh, and a bogey. Heading into the back nine, the 22-year-old faltered at the par-four 10th as he found the native area with his tee shot and subsequently recorded a double bogey. However, the world number two bounced back with a trio of birdies to conclude his round.