The low scores from Thursday and Friday were nowhere to be found on Saturday at the 2025 Texas Open as winds changed direction and picked up at TPC San Antonio, creating a difficult challenge for the field. After leading by four coming into the round, Brian Harman stumbled early Saturday as he gave two shots back in the first four holes. Despite falling back to 10 under for much of the afternoon, he never had any company at the top of the leaderboard as the rest of the field struggled to mount a big charge.
The 2023 Open champion steadied himself on the back nine with birdies on Nos. 14 and 17 getting him back to even on the day and 12 under for the tournament. Harman’s Saturday 72 was enough to take a three-shot lead into the final round with Andrew Novak in second at 9 under after closing with a sensational back nine that featured five birdies.
Just behind Novak is Tom Hoge at 8 under; he posted the round of the day with a 4-under 68 to move up 19 spots on the leaderboard to third.
An under-par round on Saturday gave golfers a great chance to climb the leaderboard, but the biggest names in the field struggled to take advantage. Patrick Cantlay began the day tied for sixth at 6 under but slipped back to T10 with a 2-over 74. Jordan Spieth also backed up a shot to 3 under for the tournament with a 73 that saw him explore the space at TPC San Antonio — hitting just seven greens in regulation.
The leader
1. Brian Harman (-12): Harman getting back to even on his day was remarkable given the way he started. Like Spieth, he could only find seven greens in regulation in his round, and he had to lean on his incredible short game to stay in the lead. Harman got up-and-down nine times in 11 scrambling situations, and now, he will get to sleep on the lead for the second-straight night.
Other contenders
2. Andrew Novak (-9)
3. Tom Hoge (-8)
4. Keith Mitchell (-7)
Novak’s incredible close to his round featured the luckiest shot of the day as he banked his tee shot on the 16th off the grandstands behind the green and had the ball bounce to within a few feet of the pin. You don’t often see a kick-in birdie after an extremely loud “Fore!” call off the tee on a par 3, but Novak got quite the break when one of his worst swings of the day received the fortuitous bounce off the stands.
Hoge not only shot the round of the day with his 68, he was the only player in the field to go bogey-free on Saturday. In those conditions with how small the greens are at TPC San Antonio, that was an incredible feat and he now finds himself in contention going into Sunday.
Mitchell, meanwhile, is once again near the top of the leaderboard but seems to be running out of gas a bit as the week wears on. He’s been dominant on Thursdays for about a month now but can’t carry that play forward through the weekend. He certainly did not have his best on Saturday, though he was able to grind out a 73 and stay in touch with Harman. He needs to figure out how to get those Thursday feels to show up on Sunday to have a chance at a win.
Just aim for the fat guy
Novak produced the most entertaining moments of Saturday’s third round, as before his bank-shot birdie, NBC picked up a funny moment on the par-5 14th when they were figuring out where their aim point was in the wind. Novak, looking for a good place to start his second shot, picked out the “kinda fat guy” behind the green. He came up just short of the green but in the fairway and got up-and-down for birdie, so it’s safe to say aiming for the fat guy worked.
2025 Texas Open updated odds, picks
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
- Brian Harman (-165)
- Andrew Novak (4-1)
- Tom Hoge (9-1)
- Keith Mitchell (14-1)
It’s supposed to be cooler on Sunday, but the wind isn’t supposed to be quite as strong, so there could be an opportunity for someone to post a real score. Still, a three-shot lead is a lot to bet against, and you have to be confident someone has a round in the mid-60s to put a bet on them at this point.
Of the group at the top, Mitchell is the one with a 64 on his card from Thursday, but his weekend struggles make it tough to back him. Hoge would be my play just because he’s put up solid 68s on back-to-back days, but I don’t expect anyone to catch Harman. If Corey Conners hadn’t ejected in his last two holes (bogey-double) and had been able to post 7 under, he would’ve been my play, but I don’t see anyone coming from 4 under getting to the lead.