Scottie Scheffler’s lead trimmed to one as Round 3 spills over into a huge Sunday
ATLANTA – Scottie Scheffler’s large lead at the Tour Championship has been trimmed to a single shot, and now he faces the prospect of a 24-hole day Sunday to capture the $18 million FedExCup prize.
Seven shots ahead midway through his second round, Scheffler held only a two-shot advantage over Xander Schauffele heading into the weekend and then was stuck in neutral Saturday on a hot, steamy day that was twice interrupted by weather suspensions. The final horn, at 6:38 pm. ET, because of lightning in the area, was enough to end play for the day.
Fifteen players in the 29-man field have completed their third rounds.
The third round will resume at 9:45 a.m. Sunday, with the final round slated to begin, as scheduled, at 11:16 a.m. There is only a 20% chance of storms in the forecast. Live coverage will be showcased on Golf Channel as soon as Round 3 resumes. Final-round coverage will begin on Golf Channel at noon and switch to NBC at 1:30 p.m.
Full-field scores from Tour Championship
Carding a single birdie across his first 12 holes Saturday, Scheffler was caught by Schauffele on the front nine but never surrendered the outright lead. The world No. 1 has led throughout the entire tournament after beginning the week as the top seed, at 10 under par.
“I was feeling all right,” Scheffler said. “I wasn’t playing my best, but I was kind of hanging in there. I was looking forward to giving myself some opportunities at the end, but then the horn went off.”
Schauffele’s round to this point has been much more eventful, as he mixed four birdies and three bogeys in his first 11 holes.
When play resumes Sunday morning, Scheffler and Schauffele will play their approach shots into the 13th hole.
Sungjae Im has climbed into solo third, 4 under par for the round with four holes remaining. Not counting starting strokes, both Im and Schauffele are a field-leading 12 under par for the week.
Rory McIlroy, with two holes to play, sits four shots off the lead, while defending FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm are among the group at 14 under with holes remaining in the third round.
Asked if he noticed the leaderboard condensing on Saturday, Scheffler said: “I didn’t really see much at all. I was trying to stay in my own little world. With a 72-hole event, I think it’s still pretty early in the tournament, and right now I think we’re all just kind of jockeying for position.”
The winner at East Lake will receive $18 million, while second place earns $6.5 million and the third-place finisher gets $5 million.