Charles Schwab Challenge: Kevin Na wins by four strokes

Leaderboard

-13 Na

-9 Finau

-8 Putnman, Pan

-7 Blixt

Day four report

Kevin Na won the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth by four shots after shooting a final round of 66.

Na, 35, who led by two shots overnight, birdied four of the first eight holes at Colonial Country Club and finished on 13 under to take his third PGA Tour title.

Tony Finau carded a final-round 68 to seal second place, one shot ahead of another American, Andrew Putnam, who closed with a 66.

Na swept into contention by carding a second-round 62, one shot off the course record, and overshadowed local favourite Jordan Spieth.

Spieth, without a win since the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale, shot a two-over-par 72 in the final round to finish tied in eighth place, alongside Scotland's Russell Knox and England's Tyrell Hatton, eight shots behind Na.

Defending champion Justin Rose finished tied in 58th place on five over after a final round of 70 followed a 74, 67 and 74.

Day three report

Kevin Na overcame a double-bogey seven to take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge.

The 35-year-old, looking for his third PGA Tour title, carded a one-under 69 to go clear on nine under at Colonial Country Club near Fort Worth after overnight leader Jonas Blixt slipped back after a 74.

However, Na's round would have been better had he not thinned a bunker shot from the greenside sand at the 11th after being distracted by a spectators' phone ringing and then duffed his chip back.

"I played solid the whole front nine and after a double-bogey I grouped it together," he told Sky Sports.

"If I shoot a few under par I should stay ahead of the other guys and I should be all right."

There are 14 players within five shots of the lead with Jordan Spieth - who looked like he was returning to form at last week's US PGA Championship - lurking ominously in the group in a tie for second on seven under after he shot a 68.

Blixt, at five under, is still not out of it but four bogeys and no birdies saw him surrender his 36-hole advantage.

Former Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk, at 49, is also just two back after a round of 68.

Day two report

Jonas Blixt put himself on course for a first individual PGA Tour victory for almost six years after a high-quality 64 earned him the halfway lead at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas.

Blixt carded four birdies and a superb long-range hole-out for eagle on the penultimate hole at Colonial Country Club which lifted him one-shot clear of the chasing pack led by Kevin Na, who stormed into contention with a best-of-the-day 62, and Ryder Cup star Tony Finau.

Wily veteran Jim Furyk is also in the hunt on five under alongside local favourite Jordan Spieth, who needed two late birdies to salvage a level-par 70 after another erratic day for the three-time major champion.

Blixt emerged as the outright leader after the Swede took advantage of the friendly, early scoring conditions, making birdies at the opening two holes before following a run of nine straight pars with further gains at 12 and 13.

The 35-year-old then produced one of the highlights of the tournament at the 17th, where his pinpoint approach from 132-yards pitched within a yard of the flag and spun into the cup for a spectacular eagle-two which got him to nine under par.

Na also enjoyed a hot start to his round when he smote a stunning 245-yard second to within three feet at the first to set up an opening eagle, and he went on to make six birdies while keeping a bogey off his card.

Overnight-leader Finau was not as fluent as on day one as he started on the 10th and parred his first nine holes before mixing three birdies with a lone bogey on the front nine in a 68 which hauled him alongside Na in a share of second.

Rory Sabbatini looked a likely 36-hole leader when he enjoyed a sparkling run of six birdies in eight holes, but he then got into bunker trouble at the third and sixth and bogeyed both to slip two strokes off the pace heading into the weekend.

Furyk was clearly at home on one of the PGA Tour's shorter layouts and used his tee-to-green consistency to great effect in a classy 66, while Nick Watney, CT Pan and Jason Dufner are also on five under with Spieth.

The 2016 champion, still without a win since his thrilling triumph in The Open at Royal Birkdale, picked up an early birdie at the second before dropping shots at the fourth, eighth and ninth to stumble to the turn in 37.

Spieth bounced back when he holed from 50 feet for an unlikely birdie at the 10th and drained another from similar range two holes later, but his fine work with the putter was undone by further mistakes on the next two holes.

But after bogeys at three of the par-threes, Spieth found his range at the 16th where his tee-shot narrowly cleared the water hazard and rolled to tap-in range, and he got another good putt to drop for a closing birdie which saw him return to five under.

Tyrrell Hatton is the leading British challenger on three under after he carded six birdies in an impressive 66, while world No 3 Justin Rose made it safely through to the weekend as he followed up his opening 74 with a 67 - one over par for the tournament.

Day one report

Jordan Spieth offered further evidence that he is returning to peak form with a five under par 65 on the opening day of the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Spieth, a three-time major winner, was joint third at last week's US PGA Championship for his first top 10 since last summer's Open at Carnoustie and his best finish in more than year.

The 25-year-old is renowned for his efficiency on the greens and he put in a career-best performance in strokes gained in putting (5.5), sinking everything inside 15 feet, to sit one shot behind overnight leader Tony Finau.

Beginning on the back nine, Spieth was off the green on the 13th but chipped in for the first of four birdies in eight holes, the last of which saw him hole a 30-foot putt to take the lead.

He dropped back after a poor approach at the 18th found a water hazard, leading to a double bogey, but back-to-back birdies immediately after the turn took the 2016 champion back to four under.

Spieth holed a monstrous 46-foot putt on the fourth for another gain before finishing bogey-birdie. In total, he had only 22 putts at Colonial Country Club near Fort Worth in Texas.

Spieth's efforts in his home state put him in joint second alongside Roger Sloan, who hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation to bolster his charge up the leaderboard.

The 32-year-old carded six birdies with the only blemish of his first round arriving when he three-putted the ninth.

Finau, though, is the one to catch after his six under 64 as he bounced back from a modest showing last week at Bethpage, where he was tied for 64th.

The American had placed in the top 10 in four of his previous five majors and decided to switch to a craw grip for his putting, a move which paid dividends as he made seven birdies and just the one bogey.

He told the PGA Tour's website: "I needed to switch something. It's an itch I wanted to scratch. To me, it was just the perfect time.

"I'm left-hand dominant when I roll the stick. I used to putt cross-handed for about five years. I've been putting conventionally now for a couple of years.

"But I just wanted to switch it up. I haven't been putting great. I wanted to try something different, and it felt great out there."

Former US PGA champions Jason Dufner and Jimmy Walker were among nine players on three under while English pair Matthew Fitzpatrick and Paul Casey were in a group two shots further back.

It was a day to forget for defending champion Justin Rose, who made four bogeys in eight holes on the back nine, as the world number three recorded a four over 74.