FORT WORTH, Texas — Saturday is known as moving day on the PGA Tour. And Scottie Scheffler moved himself in position to win for the fifth time on the PGA Tour this season.
Windy conditions made birdies few and far between Round 3 of the Charles Schwab Challenge, but Scheffler made consecutive birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 to take the outright lead at 11-under. He gave one back with his first bogey of the tournament on No. 17, but drained a 30-footer for birdie on No. 18 to take a two-stroke lead at 11-under going into Sunday.
“I was playing good golf,” Scheffler said. “It was really tough out there. The winds were up really high. The greens were actually pretty firm, and so it was challenging. The birdies were not coming easy to anybody out there late in the day.”
Scheffler is the clear favorite going into Sunday as the world’s top-ranked golfer. But there’s plenty of players in position to give him a run for his money.
The most strokes overcome going into the final round is 7 strokes when Nick Price won it in 1994. Ben Hogan and Phil Mickelson both rallied from 6-stroke deficits in 1952 and 2000, respectively.
There are 23 players within 7 strokes of Scheffler’s lead.
Brendon Todd and Scott Stallings are the closest at 9-under. Harold Varner III is alone in fourth at 8-under.
Todd posted the low round of the day at 5-under 65. Todd opened red-hot on the front nine. He eagled the par-5 first and then had birdies on Nos. 2, 6 and 8. Todd is looking to complete the Dallas-Fort Wort sweep as he won the AT&T Byron Nelson in 2014.
Stallings was 3 over at one point but rallied back for an even-par 70 with three birdies on the final seven holes.
“Man, I knew I was playing well,” Stallings said. “I knew I was doing a lot of good things, and just got to keep reminding myself of that.”
Jordan Spieth is another player in the hunt. The 2016 Colonial champion is in a five-person group at 5-under following an even-par 70 on Saturday.
Someone sitting at 4-under could throw up an early number, too. Among the notable players at 4-under include 2019 Colonial champion Kevin Na and Sam Burns, who is No. 10 in the world golf rankings. Na has posted a 9-under 61 and two 8-under 62s in his Colonial career.
Tony Finau, who finished runner-up in 2019, is another name to watch in the group at 4-under.
At the end of the day, it’s anybody’s guess as to who may push Scheffler for the plaid jacket. For his part, Scheffler is keeping his approach the same.
“My strategy around the golf course won’t really change too much throughout the day,” he said. “I’m just trying to shoot the lowest score possible.”
Birdie free
The par-3 fourth, which played 247 yards on Saturday, is the only hole that didn’t surrender a birdie in Round 3. The average score on the hole was 3.217.
There were eight birdies on No. 4 during the second round on Friday, and 10 birdies during the first round on Thursday.
No repeat
Ben Hogan will remain the only golfer in Colonial’s history to successfully defend his championship.
Jason Kokrak, who won the 2021 tournament, sits in last place at 6-over following a 6-over 76 on Saturday. Kokrak ran into trouble on No. 5 with a double bogey and then unraveled on the back nine with six bogeys (Nos. 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16).
The 76 is Kokrak’s worst score in the tournament since a 10-over 80 in the second round of the 2017 event.
Sunday’s flyover
Sunday’s final round will have a flyover at 2 p.m.
There will be one Huey helicopter at low altitude that comes in over No. 13 green, circles around the No. 14 and No. 17 green area, and then flies across the entire course.
Prior to the flyover, there will be a 40-second moment of silence to honor America’s fallen military.
