Scottie Scheffler's lead grows to 8 in the dark at his hometown Byron Nelson

McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Scottie Scheffler's comfortable lead at his hometown CJ Cup Byron Nelson was the same late in the third round as it was at the start, even without the dominance the top-ranked player showed over the first 36 holes.

Then he found that form again, and made a big lead even bigger at 23 under while finishing after sunset Saturday night.

Scheffler has an eight-shot lead after a 5-under 66 capped by birdies on three of the final five holes — the last on the par-5 18th more than 13 hours after the day began with about half the field needing to complete the second round, including 18 players who hadn't even started. There was a six-hour weather delay Friday.

Erik von Rooyen (65), Adam Schenk (65) and Ricky Castillo (67) are 15 under, with Kurt Kitiyama (68) and Jhonattan Vegas (67) another shot back.

Scheffler had his first two bogeys of the tournament and was 2 under for the day through 13 holes after missing the PGA Tour record for the lowest 36-hole score by one shot at 124 (18 under). His six-shot lead after two rounds was a Nelson record.

At the short par-4 14th, Scheffler drove the green before settling for a tap-in birdie, then put his tee shot at the long par-3 15th inside four feet for another birdie.

The horn for darkness had already sounded after Scheffler, Castillo and Sam Stevens teed off on 18 when the group in front was still in the fairway but cleared them to hit to try to save time. The players had the option to finish.

Scheffler couldn't see his second shot from the rough after impact, but it reached the green. He two-putted from 31 feet for the biggest 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour since Rory McIroy also led by eight on the way to winning the 2011 U.S. Open.

“I saw it take off the way I wanted it to,” Scheffler said of his approach on 18. “But after that, I couldn’t see that far. Really, I’d say the most challenging part was reading a green.”

Van Rooyen was in the rough beside the green on 18 in two shots and looking for another birdie that would have matched the low around of the day, only to need four strokes from there for a bogey.

“The rough was quite thin, so I thought I could scoot the ball through it,” van Rooyen said. “I didn’t the first time. Then it came out dead the second time as well. So I just got it wrong.”

Schenk, who had missed six consecutive cuts coming into the Nelson, left with a similar feeling on his matching 65 after a bogey on 15 stalled his momentum at the TPC Craig Ranch course in the Dallas suburbs.

Stevens started the day alone in second behind Scheffler, and was the only remaining player without a bogey when he had four in a five-hole stretch. The native of nearby Fort Worth was among five players at 13 under after a 70. That group included Antoine Rozner, who had the low around of the day at 63.

Jordan Spieth, Scheffler's fellow Dallas resident and former University of Texas golfer, shot a second consecutive 67 and is 10 under. He was the first of the two to make his tour debut in the Nelson when he contended on Sunday as a 16-year-old in 2010.

Scheffler's first appearance was four years later, and it will take a massive turn of events for him not to be the first of the good friends to win perhaps their favorite event. He's set to become the first high school golfer from Dallas to win the Nelson since Scott Verplank in 2007. He could also become the third wire-to-wire winner in the history of the tournament after Mark Hayes (1976) and Tom Watson (1980).

“I mean, I just walked off the golf course,” Scheffler said in the darkness of a post-round interview. “Tomorrow is not really a concern of mine right now.”

Scheffler's first bogey came at the par-3 fourth hole, when his tee shot came up short and he missed a 7-footer for par. The two-time Masters winner missed five fairways after missing a total of six the first two rounds.

“I definitely wasn’t as sharp as I was the last two days, but overall I posted a pretty good score,” Scheffler said. “Over a 72-hole tournament, you’re going to have days, or typically at least one day where your swing’s not firing on all cylinders like it was the first two days. It’s all about how you battle through that.”

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

Fans watch from the gallery as Jordan Spieth, front, hits off the seventh tee during the first round of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Scottie Scheffler chips off the fifth fairway during the first round of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Jordan Spieth walks on the fairway of the 16th hole during the first round of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Scottie Scheffler, right, walks on the 18th fairway during the first round of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

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.

Pedestrians walk past the Miraflores presidential palace after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Residents evacuate a building near the Miraflores presidential palace after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Pedestrians run after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Pedestrians run after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)