Gary Woodland started the day with a three-stroke lead and fired seven birdies and two bogeys to post a 5-under 65 and retain a one-stroke lead at 18-under ahead of the final day at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.

He leads the field in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green (7.183).

“Got off to a little rough start. I was a little quick with everything early, kind of got a little wayward. Short game — I chipped the ball beautifully, which is nice, and made some nice putts early in the round to kind of maintain the momentum. Then once I settled in I hit some great shots on the back nine. It was a good fight, for sure.

“I’ve been playing so nice the last week really altogether, so I took a step back and told myself, didn’t run too far away from me, it’s close in there, so slow down a little bit. I probably dialed it back a little bit off the tee, and then once I started to get the feel of it, I was able to ramp it back up on the back nine.

“I’ve just got to take a deep breath. I’ll have a good night ahead of me tonight to recover and rest, and tomorrow just don’t get ahead of yourself. I’m here, I put myself in this position for a reason, so take a deep breath and maintain what I’m doing.”

At 192, Woodland set a career-best 54-hole score on the PGA Tour (previous: 195/2016 World Wide Technology Championship/2nd). He holds his 10th career 54-hole lead/co-lead and first since the 2019 US Open (a span of 2,478 days) and is 2-for-9 converting one to victory (2013 Reno-Tahoe Open, 2019 US Open).

He finished runner-up at last year’s Texas Children’s Houston Open, marking his 11th runner-up finish on Tour and best finish since his most recent victory (2019 US Open). He seeks to become the first player to finish runner-up and then win the same tournament the next season since Robert MacIntyre (2023, 2024 Genesis Scottish Open).

He was the recipient of the 2025 PGA Tour Courage Award having undergone surgery to remove a brain lesion in September 2023 and returned to competition at the 2024 Sony Open in Hawaii.

Woodland has had two top-10 finishes in 55 starts since his surgery (T9/2024 Shriners Children’s Open, T2/2025 Texas Children’s Houston Open) and one top-25 in seven starts this season (T14/Valspar Championship).

One day after tying the tournament 18-hole scoring record with a personal-best 8-under 62, Denmark’s Nicolai Højgaard made a single bogey in his 7-under 63 and lies in second place at 17-under. At 193, he set a career-best 54-hole score on Tour (previous: 200/2024 Genesis Scottish Open/T39).

Højgaard seeks his first victory in his 63rd start. He has had a runner-up finish in each of the last three seasons (2023 Corales Puntacana Championship, 2024 Farmers Insurance Open, 2025 Zurich Classic of New Orleans with teammate/brother Rasmus).

He is one of five players in the field who entered the week between Nos. 40-65 in the Official World Golf Ranking who have not qualified for the Masters Tournament; the top 50 players in the OWGR through the Texas Children’s Houston Open will qualify for the Masters if not already exempt:
• No. 42 Jake Knapp (T34/-5)
• No. 47 Nicolai Højgaard (2nd/-17)
• No. 56 Michael Thorbjornsen (T3/-12)
• No. 61 Rickie Fowler (MC)
• No. 65 Jordan Smith (T45/-4)

Tied in third place, Australia’s Min Woo Lee made five birdies and two bogeys for a 67 and trails by six in his bid to become the second player to successfully defend a Texas Children’s Houston Open title (Vijay Singh/2005/GC of Houston). Scottie Scheffler (2025 Memorial Tournament) is the last player to successfully defend on Tour.

24-year-old American Michael Thorbjornsen shares third place at 12-under after a third-round 66. He has played his last 50 holes without a bogey (No. 4/R1), the longest bogey-free streak of his career. He is in search of his first victory in his 53rd start (best finishes: T2 at the 2024 John Deere Classic and 2025 Corales Puntacana Championship).

All four past Texas Children’s Houston Open champions in the field are currently inside the top 20: Min Woo Lee (T3), Adam Scott (T10), Stephan Jaeger (T12), Tony Finau (T18).

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