AT&T Byron Nelson 2016: Saturday Leaderboard Scores and Highlights

Brooks Koepka's hot streak at the 2016 AT&T Byron Nelson continued Saturday, as the Florida native fired a 65 for a 54-hole score of 16-under par and two-shot lead over Jordan Spieth heading into the final round. 

Koepka began the third round in a tie for second place with Spieth, Bud Cauley and Sergio Garcia. Cauley, Garcia and Matt Kuchar ended the day tied for third place at 13 under. Ben Crane, who held the 36-hole lead, fell off the pace with a two-over 72 that dropped his score to 10 under par.   

Here's the full leaderboard with 18 holes left to play at the AT&T Byron Nelson tournament:

Spieth has been rolling all weekend, posting his lowest 36-hole total (129) on the PGA Tour, but he's yet to find himself atop the leaderboard for all of his efforts.

Garcia, Danny Lee and Johnson Wagner all opened one shot better than Spieth with 63s in the first round, and his 65 on Friday was only good enough to tie for the eighth-best score of the second round. 

Saturday saw Spieth continue to do what he's done so well already this tournament. He hit 81.5 percent of greens in regulation and gained 2.03 shots with his putter. He was building momentum with this birdie on No. 9, via the PGA Tour:

The first blemish on Spieth's resume happened on No. 14, when his drive went straight into the water. He did salvage a bogey, but that mistake combined with a birdie from Koepka dropped Spieth into a tie for second place. 

Despite the mistake, the fact that he was able to hit a drive into water, give up a stroke and lose only one shot drew rave reviews from analysts such as Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News:

Spieth saved himself on the green with a 30-foot putt that hung just on the edge of the cup before finally falling into the hole. The 17th hole kept him right on Koepka's heels with a tremendous birdie putt, via the PGA Tour:

"

Jordan Spieth knows how to fire up the hometown fans.

https://t.co/jnkTwr6gjW

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 21, 2016"

Koepka, who was playing in the final group, took advantage of the opening Spieth gave him. Koepka started the day on a sour note with his own bogey on No. 1, but he had four birdies in an eight-hole stretch starting on No. 7 to push atop the leaderboard at 15 under.

There wasn't a lot that Koepka didn't have working on Saturday. His two best weapons were the short game and driver, as he averaged 304.7 yards and warranted a GIF reaction shot from Spieth, via the PGA Tour:

The driver doesn't mean anything if the putter isn't working. That wasn't a problem for Koepka, who gained 1.85 shots putting in the third round. 

Koepka's low score on Saturday is a huge step in the right direction. He's been flirting with contention throughout this season, boasting four top-10 finishes, but the last two rounds have provided major problems for the 26-year-old. 

Tournament	Final Weekend Score (To Par)
The Players Championship	150 (+6)
Valero Texas Open	N/A (Missed Cut)
The Masters	148 (+4)
Shell Houston Open	N/A (Missed Cut)
WGC-Cadillac Championship	146 (+2)

Getting over that first hurdle helps Koepka build the confidence necessary to keep things going in the final round with a lot of competition in his rearview mirror. 

Cauley's turnaround is just as impressive as Koepka's. The Florida native came into this weekend having missed the cut in each of his last two PGA Tour events, which dates back to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. 

This is a great story for a player who has battled injuries that prevented him from playing up to high standards for the last two years. He explained his ordeal to reporters after the second round, via Mike McAllister of PGATour.com:

Watching that much Netflix is not what the 26-year-old athlete should be doing. He's been able to find a formula that's giving him a chance for his first PGA Tour victory. 

Garcia looked like he was going to be in the lead on the front nine. He briefly tied Spieth for the top spot Saturday, as the pair fired identical 32s before making the turn. His back nine wasn't as successful, as a bogey on No. 10 was the only red or black mark he earned. 

This is Garcia's best performance since finishing second at the Honda Classic in February, but there's still a hole for him to climb out of if he's going to capture his first PGA Tour win since 2012. 

Everything has been such a cluster starting with the first round, when three players were tied for the lead. Koepka has built a small cushion with 18 holes remaining; however, Spieth has been on his game, and any member of the trio tied for third has shown the ability to put up a number in the low-to-mid-60s.

Stats per PGATour.com. 

Post-Round Reaction

Even though Koepka and Spieth have the two lowest scores heading into the final round, you would never know it based on their comments after Saturday's round, per ESPN's Jason Sobel:

Spieth was much more complementary when talking about Koepka's performance than his own, describing him as "fearless and powerful," per Sobel.

With Spieth and Koepka getting a leg up today on what it will be like when they are in the final pairing tomorrow, Koepka noted to reporters that when the two of them were having problems today that their rapport back and forth had nothing to do with golf, per Kyle Porter of CBS Sports:

"

I'm not going to tell him that I'm struggling. That's for sure. I'm sure he won't tell me. We both kind of knew it.  We were just chatting. 

I've known Jordan for probably ten years so it's nothing—I mean we're not talking about golf. We're just talking about life, things going on off the golf course and basketball games, things like that. We're not talking swing mechanics or anything like that. People probably think we are. 

"

Koepka will need to keep that loose attitude on Sunday, because Spieth will have the partisan Texas crowd in his corner. It's served him well through 54 holes, so one more day should not be a problem for Koepka.