Casey leads; Kokrak is third

Associated Press

PALM HARBOR, Fla.

The final hour changed the dynamics of the Valspar Championship, just not the lead.

That still belongs to defending champion Paul Casey, and he saw only the upside of having his three-shot margin shrink to one, and going from a final round pairing with a player who is 0 for 195 on the PGA Tour to playing alongside the No. 1 player in the world.

On a Saturday at Innisbrook that began with all 70 players who made the cut still very much in the mix, Casey surged to a three-shot lead until a bogey on the 18th hole for a 3-under 68 that left him one shot ahead of Dustin Johnson.

At stake for Casey is a chance to become the first back-to-back winner of the Valspar Championship since this PGA Tour event began in 2000.

Behind him is Johnson, who is going for his second victory in three starts.

“Of the guys on the leaderboard, he’s the one I would want to be paired with, so it doesn’t bother me,” Casey said. “Obviously, two shots would have been nicer than one, but one is better than level, or one behind.”

Johnson had some say in that final margin with one of his best shots of the day, a 9-iron from a bunker a few paces in front of a steep lip to the front shelf of the 18th green, 10 feet behind the hole. He made that for a 67 to get into the final group.

A year ago, Casey rallied from five shots behind with a 65 and wound up winning by one shot over Woods and Patrick Reed. That’s a tribute to Innisbrook, which players regard as one of the purest tests of the year, certainly in Florida.

Casey was at 9-under 204. Eight players had a share of the lead in the third round, and 10 players finished within four shots of the lead.

That starts with Jason Kokrak (Warren JFK), winless in his 195 starts as a pro over the better part of eight years.

He showed how quickly fortunes can change when he made three birdies in five holes to start the back nine, and then smashed an 8-iron with a breeze at his back that rolled across the 15th green and into the cup for a hole-in-one .

“You can be three, four, five shots out at this golf course and really make some noise if you get it going early,” Kokrak said.

Kokrak shot 30 on the back for a 66 and was poised to play in the final group until Johnson made his birdie on the 18th.

Luke Donald, a past winner at Innisbrook playing for only the second time this year — and first since January — grinded his way to a 70 and joined Scott Stallings (70) three shots behind.