(Atlanta) Scottie Scheffler birdied four of his last five holes Saturday at East Lake on his way to a 5-under-par 66 that kept Collin Morikawa at bay and brought the world number one within one round of the lucrative $25 million FedEx Cup prize.
Scheffler extended his lead over Morikawa to five shots heading into the final round of the Tour Championship, with every other golfer at least nine shots behind.
Sahith Theegala could be two shots closer to Scheffler, but he imposed a two-shot penalty on himself on the third hole because he lightly touched the sand with his club in a bunker.
The video replay wasn’t exactly clear, but Theegala notified the officials and his par turned into a double bogey.
PHOTO JASON ALLEN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sahith Theegala
“Pretty sure I broke the rule, so I’m paying the price, and I feel good about it,” Theegala said. “I’m not 100 percent sure. But I would say I’m 98 or 99 percent sure that some sand moved.”
He responded by carding seven birdies on the back nine for a 66 that puts him in third place, nine shots off the top.
Ontario’s Taylor Pendrith tied for 15the ranks with a cumulative record of nine under par, 17 behind Scheffler.
Morikawa, who entered the tournament six shots behind Scheffler as the seventh seed, moved within two shots of the lead when he sank a birdie putt from just under 10 feet on the par-5 sixth hole.
But he couldn’t get any closer. On the next hole, Scheffler rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt. Meanwhile, Morikawa dropped his approach shot short of the green, then a putt attempt to just over three feet from the target, before missing. Suddenly, Scheffler had a four-shot lead.
PHOTO BY JOHN DAVID MERCER, USA TODAY SPORTS, PROVIDED BY REUTERS
Collin Morikawa
At 15e hole, a par-5, Morikawa needed three putts from 60 feet before birdieing three of his last four holes for a 67. In the end, he lost a little more ground to Scheffler.
“Not quite the transition day I needed, but I knew all week long I was going to need something special to finish in first place. And I’m going to have to do something very special,” Morikawa admitted.
“But I believe in myself, and I hope it will come true tomorrow.”
After three rounds, Scheffler is 26 under par. His five-shot lead is not the largest since the format was introduced in 2019.
Two years ago, Scheffler held a six-shot lead, completed the final round with a 73 and finished one shot behind Rory McIlroy, who was unstoppable on the final day.
A year ago, he started as the top seed and shot just one round under par.
“I feel like I did a lot of things well and played with aplomb, and so I’m looking forward to the challenge of trying to win the tournament tomorrow,” Scheffler said.
Xander Schauffele, the reigning British Open and PGA Championship champion, never got going. Facing a five-shot deficit heading into the day, he made two bogeys over the first four holes and failed to birdie any of the three par-5 holes in his 71. He trails by 10 shots.
PHOTO JASON ALLEN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Xander Schauffele
In each of his three rounds, he was unable to hit more than seven fairways from the tee boxes, and that proved costly when he needed to post low scores to stay in contention.
“I just wasn’t playing well enough to go back-to-back rounds of seven-under-par,” Schauffele admitted.
“To have a really good chance at birdie, you have to hit at least 12 fairways and then, of course, do a lot of good things after that. But first and foremost, you have to hit your ball where the grass is short.”
For everyone else, it’s a race for money.
The winner of the FedEx Cup will receive $25 million. Checks for $12.5 million and $7.5 million will be awarded to the second- and third-place finishers.