That's because the play was suspended, and only 15 of the 29 players on the course completed the third round at East Lake Golf Club on Saturday. Scheffler hit his tee shot on the 13th into the right rough before play was suspended for the second time that afternoon due to lightning in the area at 6:36 pm, and he later called off the day.
While more than half the field finished their rounds on Saturday and could sleep late, Justin Thomas wasn't so lucky. He has to get up and return to the course to make a 2-foot birdie putt and complete his third round. His eagle effort on 18 from 34 feet was hit just as the horn sounded. If he makes it, he will shoot seven under 63.
Scheffler was still 19-under in the tournament when play was suspended, but his two-shot overnight lead had been cut in half by Xander Schauffele. South Korea's Sungjae I'm was 4-under through 14 holes and three shots behind the leader.
He pared the first seven holes, extending his par to 13 from Friday's second round. He finally broke the birdie seal on No. 8, bunkering a 12-foot fairway bunker, and holed the putt.
It was very important for Scheffler to make a birdie today before a bogey," NBC's Paul Azinger said.
Scheffler teed off his par-3 11th in a greenside bunker and couldn't get up and down for his first bogey in 38 holes. He was tied for the day and 19 under for the tournament when the game of the day was called.
With birdies at Nos. 2 and 3 on Saturday, Schauffele took a chunk of the lead and erased a 4-shot deficit at the start of the tournament in the scoring ladder and at one point in the second round had grown. To an eight-count deficit.
Schauffele made only two bogeys in his first 39 holes and made two in a row on the fourth and fifth. But he wasted no time getting back on the birdie bus with two consecutive circles at Nos. 6 and 7.
On the latter, Schauffele hit his tee shot into the trees but made a nifty recovery to find the green.
He hit back at No. 11 when he followed Scheffler into the bunker on the left side of the green and couldn't salvage par.
With six holes to play in the third round, Schauffele is 18 under par and one shot away as he seeks his fourth season win and first FedEx Cup title.
Japan's Hideki Matsuyama scored the day's low among the finalists, posting eight birdies and a lone bogey on his way to a 7-under 63.
Matsuyama was running a ball-striking clinic, ranking first in Strokes Earned: Tee-to-Green (3,462) and second in SG: Approach the Green (+2,804). Matsuyama began the week at 2-under in the staggered start scoring and did not improve his chances by opening with a par 70. He made 32 putts in the first round and missed more than one field goal on Thursday. It's been positive SG: Putting in the last two rounds.
On Saturday, Matsuyama birdied four of the front nine before bogeying No. 10. He rebounded by birding No. 11 and No. 13 and finishing his round with back-to-back birdies. Matsuyama improved to 13 under par for the tournament and was ninth when play was suspended.
East Lake takes a beating.
Par is 70 at East Lake Golf Club, but it's more like 67 because of the way the top 29 on the course were chewing on it on Saturday before play was suspended.
The average score of the 15 rounds completed was 67.33, which is on track to be the lowest single-round average in the Tour Championship. He would break the 67.5 mark in the tournament's first round in 2007.
Login To Leave a Comment