LOS CABOS, Mexico — Matt Kuchar blew a giant lead with a late collapse Saturday within the World Wide Technology Championship, leaving him tied with Camilo Villegas with a spherical left at Tiger Woods-designed El Cardonal at Diamante.

Six strokes forward at 24 below with three holes left on a breezy, cloudy afternoon on the tip of Baja California. Kuchar pulled his drive on 15 left into dense bushes and made a quadruple-bogey 8. He then bogeyed the par-3 sixteenth, limiting the harm with a 12-foot bogey putt.

“Listen, this course has some trickiness to it,” Kuchar mentioned. “That 15th hole is one I think we all have circled — `I think this could be a big number.′ — and for me it was today,” Kuchar mentioned. “Listen, it’s golf.”

Kuchar closed with two pars — together with his birdie strive on the par-5 18th hitting the cup — for a 5-under 67. Playing alongside Kuchar within the remaining group, Villegas completed birdie-birdie-bogey-birdie for a 69 to affix Kuchar at 19 below.

“Emotionally, I was pretty at peace on the golf course and made great birdies on No. 15 and 16, probably two of the holes that were playing the toughest,” Villegas mentioned. “Matt was type of working away, however golf is bizarre and he got here again to us.

The 45-year-old Kuchar gained the match in 2018 at Mayakoba. A month after that, he gained the Sony Open in Hawaii for the newest of his 9 PGA Tour titles.

“I really like the state of my game, so here I am,” Kuchar mentioned. “I’m pretty good at letting that stuff roll off my back. I let that one roll off my back and go try to play some good golf tomorrow.”

After opening with consecutive 65s on Thursday and Friday in calm situations, Kuchar eagled the par-5 first on Saturday and had six birdies and a bogey in a front-nine 29. He birdied Nos. 12-14 to get to 10 below for the spherical and 24 below total earlier than the meltdown.

“One bad swing is probably all I made,” Kuchar mentioned. “That drive on 15, tried to ride the wind. I’m not typically one to try to hit draws and I hit a hook in the junk, and then from there 15 can kind of creep up and kind of get you.”

Villegas, two strokes forward after opening 64-64, is preventing to realize his full PGA Tour card. The 41-year-old Colombian cut up time between the Korn Ferry Tour and no matter PGA Tour occasions he might get on this yr, and he stands at No. 223 within the FedExCup with solely three tournaments left. The high 125 have full playing cards for 2024; the highest 150 at the very least have conditional standing.

“We’ll be back tomorrow, play good, keep staying aggressive,” Villegas mentioned. “There’s a lot of low scores on this golf course. See what happens.”

Erik van Rooyen, who got here into the week at No. 125 within the FedExCup, was a stroke again at 18 below after a 66.

“The fairways are wide, so everyone’s going to be hitting all of them. It’s a second-shot golf course,” van Rooyen mentioned. “There’s a lot of little pockets within the greens and it type of fits my sport. I’ve putted nicely this week as nicely, so the whole lot’s coming collectively properly.

Mackenzie Hughes (63), Will Gordon (67) and Justin Suh (68) have been 17 below.

Kuchar and Villegas are the primary two gamers 40 or over to share a 54-hole lead on PGA Tour since Stewart Cink and Ben Crane within the 2017 FedEx St. Jude Classic.