MEMPHIS, Tenn. – There are no guarantees in golf and Scottie Scheffler’s season, while insanely consistent, is a testament to how fickle the ancient game can be even for those at the very top of the competitive pyramid.
But even with the vagaries of golf, there was a competitive shudder when Scheffler maintained his two-shot lead at the FedEx St. Jude Championship with a third-round 68 that wasn’t as explosive as the world No. 1’s 61 on Friday but came with its own share of style points.
Scheffler’s patience has been tested this season by his inability to win since The American Express, which he claimed in his first start of 2026 in January. The ball-striking has remained sublime but round after round has been slowed by poor putting. But that hasn’t been the case at the playoff opener, where he is third in strokes gained: putting and he needed just 26 putts on Saturday.
Unlike Friday, when he birdied six of his first seven holes, Day 3 was more of a grind on the greens for Scheffler but he was able to maintain his lead and his momentum with timely par saves from 11 and 12 feet at Nos. 3 and 15, respectively.
“Any time you're holing those kind of 10- to 15-footers, it's really nice to keep the round going. I holed a few of those today. It was definitely important to keep the momentum in the round going,” Scheffler said. “[No. 3 is a] reachable par-5, a hole where you think you're going to be able to give yourself a look for birdie at the worst. Kind of made a mess of the hole and was able to hole a nice putt there for par.”
Even during what could comically be consider an “off year” for Scheffler, his record as a front-runner is impossible to ignore. In his PGA Tour career, he has won 12 of 18 events with the lead or co-lead through 54 holes, including his last eight consecutive attempts.
“I was just saying Scottie is obviously playing great, as he always does. He's not going to lay down. He's going to play great tomorrow,” said Sam Burns, who is tied for second with Sungjae Im. "So you're going to have to go out there and put a really good round together and see if you can catch him."
Golf Channel Staff