Scheffler takes lead at warm, windy Colonial
Top-ranked player has two-shot lead
FORT WORTH — Scottie Scheffler almost made it through another round at Colonial without a bogey, this time with wind gusting through the trees at Hogan’s Alley. The world’s top-ranked player has the lead alone after the third round.
Scheffler, whose only bogey at Colonial so far this week came at No. 17 on Saturday, shot a 2-under 68 with wind gusts of around 30 mph and temperatures in the upper-90s. His 11-under total was two strokes ahead of Brendon Todd, whose third-round 65 was bogey-free, and Scott Stallings (70).
Consecutive birdies to start the back nine gave Scheffler a two-stroke lead. He had a 20-foot chip-in from the left edge of the green at No. 10, then hit a 357-yard drive and 250-yard approach at the 621-yard 11th before pitching to 6 inches.
Scheffler’s bogey was a threeputt from 37 feet at No. 17, where his 5-foot par chance slid just left of the cup. He got that stroke back with a 31-foot birdie on his final putt of the day.
The only bogey-free round other than Todd was a 68 by Harold Varner III, who was alone in fourth place at 8 under.
After Scheffler missed the cut last week at the PGA Championship, his first cut since his season debut in October, the Masters champion goes into Sunday’s final round with a chance for his fifth career PGA Tour victory — all in a span of 10 starts since mid-February.
More gusty wind and high temperatures are in the forecast for Sunday. The last PGA Tour player with five wins in a season before the start of June was Tom Watson in 1980.
Todd got to 9 under with a 31-foot birdie putt at the par-3 eighth hole that put him 5 under for his round. It was his second birdie of at least 30 feet — the other came at No. 2 after he opened with an 8-foot eagle putt at the 551-yard first hole.
Beau Hossler and Stallings began the third round tied with Scheffler for the lead. Scheffler had also been part of the lead after 18 holes, when a Colonial-record eight players were tied atop the leaderboard.
Hossler and Stallings had pars only through the first six holes, but fell out of the lead when both missed makeable par putts at No. 7. Hossler’s 8-footer was possibly pushed by the wind and skimmed the right edge, while Stallings lipped the hole from 3 1/2 feet.
Stallings was quickly two strokes off the lead after bogey at the par-3 eight hole, where he missed a 5-foot par chance. He had another bogey at No. 10, but three birdies over his last seven holes got him even for the round after a finishing four-footer.
LPGA: In the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play in Las Vegas, Nevada, former University of New Mexico golfer Jodi Ewart Shadoff lost her quarterfinals match to Ayaka Furue, 1-up on the fourth playoff hole. Shadoff was 4-up through 11 holes before Furue rallied to square the match after 18.
Earlier, Shadoff won her round-of-16 pairing, defeating Tiffany Chan of Hong Kong 4 and 3. Shadoff had to get up at 5 a.m. to prep for her 8:10 a.m. tee time. It was the fourth win in as many days for Shadoff, ranked 50th in the world.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: In Benton Harbor, Mich., Stephen Ames shot a 4-under 67 to take a two-stroke lead over fellow Canadian Mike Weir and 64-year-old Bernhard Langer into the final round of the Senior PGA Championship.
Ames, 58, had a 12-under 202 total at Harbor Shores Resort. He has three victories on the 50-andover tour after winning twice on the PGA Tour. Weir and Langer each shot 67.
Weir and Ames are trying to become the first Canadian to win a major since the inception of the senior tour in 1980. Langer has a record 11 senior majors, winning the Senior PGA in 2017.