Washington (United States) (AFP) – World number one Scottie Scheffler seized his first 54-hole lead in more than a year, taking a two-stroke edge after Saturday’s third round of the PGA St. Jude Championship. The 30-year-old American fired a two-under par 68 to stand on 13-under 197 after three rounds in the PGA FedEx Cup playoff opener at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. Scheffler is 11-for-17 in winning after 54-hole leads in PGA events, including triumphs in his past seven attempts.
“Strategy is still the same, just go out there and execute,” said Scheffler. “This is a golf course where that’s really all it comes down to. I’ll just do my best to go out there tomorrow and be committed and try and execute.” Four-time major winner Scheffler, who last led after 54 holes at last year’s British Open, will play Sunday’s final round alongside friend and compatriot Sam Burns, who shot a bogey-free 62 to share second with South Korean Im Sung-jae on 199.
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“It’s always a little weird just because I want him to have success so much and I think he wants the same for me,” Scheffler said. “It will be a competition like normal. It will be fun being out there with your friend but it’s also a bit weird.” Defending playoff champion Tommy Fleetwood of England shared fourth on 202 with American Jake Knapp while South Korean Kim Si-woo, Sweden’s Alex Noren, American Brian Harman, and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama were another stroke adrift.
Im is among those in position to jump into the top 50 on the season points list and qualify for next week’s playoff event in St. Louis while Harman needs improvement on Sunday to rise from 51st. “I always look at the leaderboard so I’ll know where I’m at,” Harman said. “I’ll be trying to shoot it super low to win the tournament. We’ll start with that and see where it takes us.”
Scheffler’s only victory this year came in his January season opener in the California desert, but he also has had five runner-up finishes and five other top-10 showings. Scheffler began the day with a three-stroke lead after matching the course record with a 61 on Friday, but struggled to fight off challengers all day. He needed an 11-foot putt to save par at the third and missed a 12-footer to bogey the fourth.
“Any time you’re holing those 10- to 15-footers, it’s really nice to keep the round going,” Scheffler said. “It was definitely important to keep the momentum going.” Scheffler fell back into a share of the lead twice but grabbed the outright lead again each time with birdies – from just outside 12 feet at the par-three eighth and just beyond eight feet at the par-three 11th.
Burns made eight birdies to leap into contention for his first victory since the 2023 WGC Match Play. “It can be frustrating at times when you feel like you’re playing well and you’re not getting the results of a win out of it,” Burns said. “You’ve just got to keep putting yourself in that position. The more you do it, the better the odds are for you.”
Norway’s Viktor Hovland grabbed a share of the early lead with birdies at the second and fourth holes but slipped back with bogeys at nine and 10 and a double bogey at 12. Scheffler sank a 16-foot birdie putt at 12 and a six-foot birdie putt at the par-five 16th to reach 14-under and seize a three-stroke lead, but found the right rough and a greenside bunker on the way to a bogey at 17.
© 2024 AFP
