Viktor Hovland part of 3-way tie for the lead at a crowded Valspar Championship

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Viktor Hovland part of 3-way tie for the lead at a crowded Valspar Championship

2025-03-23 07:01 Last Updated At：07:11

PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — Viktor Hovland was steady amid a wild Saturday of charges and collapses at the Valspar Championship, leaving him in a three-way tie for the lead at Innisbrook with two dozen players still very much in the mix.

Jacob Bridgeman showed plenty of mettle in his first time as the 36-hole leader, falling four shots behind at the turn and rallying for a 1-under 70 to share the lead with Hovland (69) and Nico Echavarria (66).

They were at 7-under 206 with seemingly everyone on their heels. That includes Justin Thomas, who left on Friday hopeful he would make the cut. He shot 30 on the back nine for a 65, his lowest round ever on the Copperhead course at Innisbrook, to finish two behind.

Jordan Spieth was entertaining as ever, twice making birdie from deep in the woods, and along with missing a pair of short par putts, and having to settle for a 67. He still was only four shots behind going into a Sunday in which 23 players were separated by four shots.

Byeong Hun An was the only player to reach 9 under with a birdie on the 11th hole, only to make five bogeys over the final seven holes for a 72. Even so, he was only three back.

Hovland came into the week in search of his swing, returning to another coach and being willing to take as much time as he needed to figure out where the ball is going. It's working out in his favor so far.

“It's fun to be in contention, but it is a little bit more stressful when you don't feel super comfortable over the ball,” Hovland said. “But man, it's fun to see some putts go in and still see the ball end up close to the hole and put some good scores up there.”

Echavarria, who won in Japan last fall for his second PGA Tour title, finished well ahead of the final groups and played bogey-free for his 66, remarkably making birdie on all three of the par 3s on the back nine.

The Colombian didn't expect to have a share of the lead when he finished, though he knew he would at least have a chance.

“This is a golf course where you don’t have to be one off the lead starting to get the leaders,” he said. “We have seen that it’s a hard golf course. You have to drive your ball very well out here. You have to hit the greens. It’s tough around the greens. So we’re going to have a chance tomorrow having a good round.”

Most impressive was Bridgeman, a second-year player who began the third round by missing a 3-foot par putt. He also took two straight bogeys to finish the front nine and was falling behind. But then he hit wedge to 3 feet for birdie on the 10th and worked his way back. At one point, Bridgeman had seven straight holes without a par.

“I was just head down and grind the best I could,” Bridgeman said. “I wasn't hitting it great. I wasn't flustered, I wasn't really freaking out. But I knew if I could get the ball in the fairway I would be fine.”

He said after the birdie on 10 his caddie G.W. Cable slapped him on the behind and told him, “Let's go.”

“And I kept it up,” Bridgeman said.

Thomas and Spieth teed off some five hours before the leaders, longtime friends who took turns posting birdies. Thomas felt frustrated not to make up much ground until he holed an eagle putt from just inside 30 feet on the par-5 11th hole and was on his way. Thomas birdied the next three holes and at one point was one shot behind.

“We got on a little four-hole run there and that can be the difference of sparking an entire week or not,” Thomas said. “So hopefully that’s the one that sparks the week.”

Ricky Castillo had a 68 and was one shot behind. Thomas and Shane Lowry (70) were among five players at 5-under 208, with An and Billy Horschel (69) in the large group another shot behind. Lucas Glover (69) was part of the group with Spieth at four behind.

“The leaderboard is stacked. There’s probably like 25 guys — 30 guys maybe — that can still win this golf tournament,” said Jeremy Paul of Germany, who shot 70 and was in the group two shots behind. “Trying to put a good round together and see where it puts me.”

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Venezuela's government accuses US of attacking civilian, military installations in multiple states

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations in multiple states after at least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard around 2 a.m. local time Saturday in the capital, Caracas.

The Pentagon and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas. Another military installation in the capital was without power.

People in various neighborhoods rushed to the streets. Some could be seen in the distance from various areas of Caracas.

“The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice trembling. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “We felt like the air was hitting us.”

Venezuela’s government, in the statement, called on its supporters to take to the streets.

“People to the streets!” the statement said. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”

The statement added that President Nicolás Maduro had “ordered all national defense plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance.”

This comes as the U.S. military has been targeting, in recent days, alleged drug-smuggling boats. On Friday, Venezuela said it was open to negotiating an agreement with the U.S. to combat drug trafficking.

Maduro also said in a pretaped interview aired Thursday that the U.S. wants to force a government change in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves through the monthslong pressure campaign that began with a massive military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August.

Maduro has been charged with narco-terrorism in the U.S. The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels in what was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes on boats in September.

U.S. President Donald Trump for months had threatened that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan land. The U.S. has also seized sanctioned oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, and Trump ordered a blockade of others in a move that seemed designed to put a tighter chokehold on the South American country’s economy.

The U.S. military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes is 35 and the number of people killed is at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.

They followed a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America, including the arrival in November of the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier, which added thousands more troops to what was already the largest military presence in the region in generations.

Trump has justified the boat strikes as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S. and asserted that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

Meanwhile, Iranian state television reported on the explosions in Caracas on Saturday, showing images of the Venezuelan capital. Iran has been close to Venezuela for years, in part due to their shared enmity of the U.S.