Houston Open day four: Russell Henley into Masters

Final leaderboard

-20 Russell Henley
-17 Sung Kang
-16 Rickie Fowler, Luke List
-13 Daniel Berger
-12 Hudson Swafford

Scroll down for collated scores

Day four report

Russell Henley booked an 11th-hour ticket to Augusta by securing his third PGA Tour victory in the Shell Houston Open.

Henley carded a final-round 65 - despite a double-bogey at the par-three ninth - to reel in leader Sung Kang and earn the final invite to next week's Masters.

As a Georgia resident who has played well at Augusta before, Henley might fancy his chances of getting in the mix at the season's first major after one of the most impressive Sunday displays of the season.

Starting the final round four shots adrift of Kang, Henley made five birdies in his opening eight holes to tie the lead heading towards the turn.

Three putts after he'd found sand at the ninth saw Henley drop two shots, but a bounce-back birdie at the 10th saw him again draw level with the Korean, who was seeking his first PGA Tour title and had held a six-shot lead after round two.

Still tied as they approached the final six holes, Henley then birdied 13, 14, 15 and 17 to burst clear of his sole remaining rival and he was able to register a defensive bogey at 18 for a convincing win.

Kang made par from range at the final hole to finish second ahead of Rickie Fowler, who lost all hope of winning the title by playing the first four holes in three-over on Sunday, but gained some vital Augusta momentum with a back-nine fightback.

Fowler birdied holes 12, 13, 15 and 17 to finish on 16-under, four back of the sensational Henley, who completes the Masters field and will arrive as one of the form men following a dominant display in Texas.

"I just knew it was going to be hard," Henley said. "I just told myself to bear down and no matter whether I'm winning, losing, I'm going to go hard the whole time.

"It's hard to believe - maybe it will sink in at some point.

"It gives me chills. I've been trying not to think about it. I feel like I belong out here."

Final collated scores

USA unless stated

268 Russell Henley 67 67 69 65

271 Sung Kang (Kor) 65 63 71 72

272 Luke List 68 71 65 68, Rickie Fowler 64 71 67 70

275 Daniel Berger 70 67 71 67

276 Hudson Swafford 67 67 75 67

277 Rafael Campos 69 71 68 69

278 Kyle Stanley 66 71 71 70, Zac Blair 69 67 75 67

279 Jon Rahm (Spa) 71 72 69 67, Andrew Loupe 68 70 72 69

280 Michael Thompson 70 73 69 68, Jason Dufner 68 69 73 70, Michael Kim 70 70 70 70

281 Keegan Bradley 67 71 76 67, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 68 68 73 72, Andrew Sullivan (Eng) 68 76 67 70, Justin Rose (Eng) 67 71 73 70, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 66 74 70 71

282 Danny Lee (Nzl) 69 69 72 72, Robert Garrigus 68 73 71 70 Sam Saunders 71 73 69 69

283 Andres Gonzales 75 67 75 66, Spencer Levin 70 71 74 68, Charley Hoffman 71 72 69 71, Vaughn Taylor 67 74 75 67, Harold Varner III 68 73 71 71, Stewart Cink 66 71 73 73, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 68 74 72 69, D.A. Points 68 71 74 70, Peter Uihlein 71 71 72 69, Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 72 70 73 68, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 70 71 72 70

284 Tony Finau 71 73 72 68, Chad Campbell 71 71 74 68, Ryan Blaum 68 74 74 68, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 69 69 76 70, Robert Streb 77 65 73 69

285 Beau Hossler 70 71 74 70, Morgan Hoffmann 71 73 71 70, John Huh 70 71 75 69, Patrick Cantlay 70 73 71 71, Charles Howell III 70 71 72 72

286 Bryson De Chambeau 71 68 78 69, J.J. Spaun 69 72 75 70, Blayne Barber 72 72 72 70, Kevin Chappell 72 71 68 75, Nick, Taylor (Can) 69 71 74 72

287 Chris Wood (Eng) 73 70 71 73, Sean O'Hair 70 74 73 70, Matt Jones (Aus) 70 72 73 72, James Hahn 70 73 74 70, Johnson Wagner 69 70 78 70, Kevin Streelman 68 76 71 72

288 Phil Mickelson 72 72 74 70, Grayson Murray 68 75 75 70, Tyrone Van Aswegen (Rsa) 69 73 75 71, Billy Horschel 68 73 72 75, Troy Merritt 67 75 73 73, JT Poston 70 71 70 77

289 J.J. Henry 71 71 75 72, Davis Love III 71 72 76 70, Kyle Reifers 71 71 77 70, Harris English 69 72 78 70

290 Cody Gribble 75 69 74 72, Matt Every 69 72 77 72, Tom Hoge 67 72 74 77

291 Ben Crane 72 72 75 72

292 Bryce Molder 68 75 75 74, Luke Donald (Eng) 71 71 76 74

Day three report

South Korea's Sung Kang put himself closer to qualification for next week's Masters as he leads the Shell Houston Open by three shots going into the final round.

A first PGA Tour victory on Sunday would secure him the final spot at Augusta National and he looks in good shape, sitting at 17 under after his third round in Houston.

It was not his best 18 holes of the week, with four birdies and three bogeys, and he would only be in a share of the lead had it not been for a collapse from Rickie Fowler in his final two holes.

The American, who started seven shots behind Kang, had surged back into contention with eight birdies in his first 14 holes and he arrived at the 17th sharing the lead on 17 under.

But a bogey on the penultimate hole was followed by a double bogey on the 18th as Fowler four-putted to drop three shots in two holes.

American Russell Henley is a shot further back, with Luke List firing himself up to 12 under after carding a 65 - the best round of the day.

Englishmen Andy Sullivan and Justin Rose are on five under.

Day two report

South Korea's Sung Kang powered into a commanding lead as a number of potential Masters contenders suffered an early exit from the Shell Houston Open.

Kang carded seven birdies and an eagle at the Golf Club of Houston to add a flawless 63 to his opening 65 and reach 16 under par, six shots clear of Americans Hudson Swafford and Russell Henley.

But at the other end of the leaderboard, former Masters winners Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott, 2016 runner-up Lee Westwood and Open champion Henrik Stenson all missed the halfway cut.

Kang began the day a shot behind overnight leader Rickie Fowler, but quickly erased that deficit with a birdie on the 11th, his second hole of the day.

Further birdies on the 15th and 17th took Kang to the turn in 33 and he picked up further shots on the first, second, fourth and seventh before holing from 30 feet for an eagle on the par-five eighth.

Kang is currently ranked 202nd in the world and had missed the cut in five of his nine PGA Tour events in 2017, but demonstrated he was capable of low scores with a second-round 60 in last year's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

"I just putted a little better than yesterday, plus I was first off so the greens were really pure and I rolled it really nicely and they kept going in," Kang told Sky Sports 4.

A first PGA Tour victory on Sunday would also secure the final place in next week's Masters, but Kang added: "My experience is if I try to do something and think about the result it doesn't work out very well, so I'm taking it one shot at a time and the results will come."

Fowler could only add a 71 to his opening 64 to fall seven shots off the pace, with England's Justin Rose another three shots back after also returning a 71.

Spieth carded six bogeys and a solitary birdie in a disappointing 77, but insisted the poor weather forecast for the weekend in Houston did not make a missed cut any easier to swallow.

"No, because I was not playing this tournament just as a leeway into the Masters," Spieth told PGA Tour Live.

"I was playing this tournament because I love this tournament and we lost in a play-off here before. I know we can have success. The weather in Augusta is not good on Monday, either.

"I'm not sure what's going to happen with the end of this week into next week. Our plan is probably to get there by Saturday night or Sunday morning at this point and get to work."

Scott also shot 77 to finish one over par, with Westwood seven over after rounds of 77 and 74.

Day one report

World number nine Rickie Fowler warmed up for next week's Masters by claiming the lead after the first round of the Shell Houston Open.

Fowler, who opted to miss last week's WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, carded eight birdies in a flawless opening 64 to finish a shot ahead of Korea's Sung Kang, whose solitary bogey came when he three-putted the 18th.

Former Open champion Stewart Cink, Jhonattan Vegas and Kyle Stanley were a shot further back, with England's Justin Rose part of a group on five under which included fellow former major champion Keegan Bradley.

Fowler, finished in the top five in all four majors in 2014, but is yet to win one of golf's biggest championships and missed the cut at Augusta National last year after rounds of 80 and 73.

However, the four-time PGA Tour winner - whose last success came in the Honda Classic in February - looks to be in far better form in 2017 and finished off his round in style with a birdie on the 238-yard ninth, his closing hole.

"The reason last week that I wanted to be off (was to) get some downtime rest, spend time with friends," the 28-year-old told PGA Tour Live.

"I just don't play four in a row and Bay Hill (Arnold Palmer Invitational) is a place that I like to play. Unfortunately, I had to miss it last year, but I wasn't going to miss it this year.

"So it was nice to have the week off to kind of relax, recharge a bit, and I love playing here. I like playing my way in the majors and they've been able to do a great job here with conditions around the greens and making it similar as possible to next week.

"Just playing and going through the process and getting ready makes things a lot easier when you go tee it up Thursday next week."

Rose was level par after eight holes, but the 2013 US Open champion then birdied six of his next seven holes before a clumsy chip on the 16th cost him a second bogey of the day.

"I'm really pleased with that because I saw Rickie had shot eight under and I was kind of grinding through that early stretch, so to get it going from that point onwards was great," Rose told Sky Sports.

Rose, who was tied second in the Masters in 2015, practised at Augusta with Henrik Stenson recently and added: "Augusta is a course I know really well.

"I've probably played it 100 times now it's the one course I continually take notes and I'd rather lose my passport than my Augusta yardage book!"

Bradley won the first major he played, the 2011 US PGA Championship, and has contested every major since, but his exemption has now run out.

And that means the world number 105, who is without a victory since 2012, has to win in Houston to claim the last available place in the Masters.

"It's really difficult," the 30-year-old said. "It's weird being here and not having the though process of going to Augusta. But there is still one spot available. I've got to play very well obviously but we'll give it a go."

Two-time major winner and Texas native Jordan Spieth returned an opening 69, while three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson had to settle for a level-par 72.