Novak adds a 62 to his 61 and leads Mexico Open by six

Andrew Novak is 23 under par after 54 holes at Vidanta Vallarta, and his total of 190 is three shots lower than the 54-hole record Aldrich Potgieter set last year. A nine-under 62 on Saturday, a day after his 61, put him six clear of Matthieu Pavon going into the last round of the VidantaWorld Mexico Open. No one had led this event by more than four after three rounds, according to Golf Today. Jake Knapp led by four in 2024 and won by two.

Six is also the joint-largest 54-hole lead on the PGA TOUR this season. Justin Rose, Jacob Bridgeman, Cameron Young and Wyndham Clark held leads that size, and all four won.

Novak played in the final group and had the low round of the day. He played the 10th to the 14th in five under, with an eagle and three birdies. At the par-5 12th he hit a 279-yard shot to 20 feet and holed the putt for eagle. Two holes later, with the ball well below his feet in the rough, he hit his approach to six feet and made birdie. That stretch took his lead to seven before he had to hole a six-footer for par at the 16th and, after coming up short at the 17th, a 10-footer there.

“Very much the same, maybe a little sloppy at the end,” he said, comparing the round with Friday’s. “But the putter saved it.”

He has gained 12.328 strokes putting this week, more than anyone in the field, and is 37 for 37 from inside 10 feet, according to Golf Today. He arrived ranked 158th on the tour in strokes gained putting. He has made three bogeys in 54 holes.

A win, in his 140th start on the tour, would be Novak’s first individual title and would lift him from 89th to a projected 53rd in the FedExCup Fall standings.

Pos	Player	To par	R3	Total
1	Andrew Novak	−23	62	190
2	Matthieu Pavon	−17	65	196
3	Doug Ghim	−16	64	197
T4	Pierceson Coody	−15	64	198
T4	Max Greyserman	−15	66	198
T4	Ben Griffin	−15	67	198
T7	Mackenzie Hughes	−14	67	199
T7	Kihei Akina (a)	−14	68	199
T9	Tom Kim	−13	65	200
T9	Brian Campbell	−13	65	200
T9	Blades Brown	−13	67	200
T9	Kensei Hirata	−13	69	200

Pavon second, Ghim third

Pavon birdied his last two holes for a 65. His two-year exemption for winning the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines runs out this season, and he came to Mexico 140th in the FedExCup with no top 10 in 23 starts this year. Second place would lift him to a projected 94th, just inside the top 100 who keep full status. Ghim, one behind Pavon after a 64, has finished inside the top 20 in each of his last five starts. “I’ll do my best to put any pressure on him and see what happens,” he said of Novak.

Greyserman and Griffin go out at 17:40 GMT with Pierceson Coody, who shot 64. Greyserman has five runner-up finishes since 2024, more than any other player without a PGA TOUR win in that time. Griffin, who won the 2025 Zurich Classic with Novak, has shot 67 or lower in eight of his nine rounds at Vidanta Vallarta.

Akina, Campbell and Kim

Kihei Akina, the BYU amateur who played in Saturday’s final group, bogeyed his first two holes and still shot 68. He is tied seventh, and a top 10 would give him a 13th point in PGA TOUR University’s Accelerated programme, under which a player needs 20 by the end of his third year of college eligibility. The defending champion, Brian Campbell, and Tom Kim, who each took a two-shot penalty for playing the wrong ball on Friday, shot 65s and are tied ninth. Alvaro Ortiz, the only Mexican to make the cut, shot 71 and is tied 26th at nine under.

Sunday’s tee times

The leading groups start at the 1st. Local time is six hours behind GMT, and Golf Channel’s coverage runs from 20:00 to 23:00 GMT.

GMT	Local	Players
16:01	10:01	Cameron Tankersley, Garrick Higgo, Alvaro Ortiz
17:18	11:18	Brian Campbell, Blades Brown, Kensei Hirata
17:29	11:29	Mackenzie Hughes, Kihei Akina (a), Tom Kim
17:40	11:40	Pierceson Coody, Max Greyserman, Ben Griffin
17:51	11:51	Andrew Novak, Matthieu Pavon, Doug Ghim

Sources

• PGA TOUR: Andrew Novak goes low again for 62, builds six-shot lead at VidantaWorld Mexico Open
• PGA TOUR: Official leaderboard, VidantaWorld Mexico Open
• Golf Today: Mexico Open 2026 R3, Andrew Novak leads by six after 62
• Yahoo Sports (AP): Andrew Novak follows 61 with 62 to take six-shot lead in Mexico Open
• GolfMagic: Mexico Open final round tee times
• GOLF.com: 2026 VidantaWorld Mexico Open TV schedule and tee times