Viktor Hovland takes a one-shot lead into the final round of the Tour Championship, as Scottie Scheffler stayed in contention and Rory McIlroy kept his FedExCup hopes alive. Hovland produced a birdie-birdie finish to post a five-under 65 at East Lake, lifting the 2023 FedExCup champion to 15 under and with a narrow advantage over playing partner Ryan Gerard. The halfway co-leaders were chased down by a star-studded chasing pack during a thrilling Saturday at the PGA Tour's season finale, with world no 1 Scottie Scheffler three shots back in third spot and chasing a second FedExCup title.
Scheffler is joined on 12 under by Chris Gotterup, Adam Scott and Ludvig Åberg, who produced a three-birdie finish to his third-round 65, as McIlroy jumped to tied-seventh after setting the early clubhouse target with a round-of-the-day 63. McIlroy sits five strokes back alongside Cameron Young as he searches for a record-extending fourth FedExCup title, with all 29 players in the field under-par heading into the final round. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Gotterup quickly made it a three-way tie with a birdie at the third, as Hovland - playing with Gerard - took advantage of the same hole but failed to get up and down from the sand to save par at the next.
Young birdied two of his first six holes to also get to 10 under, while McIlroy charged through the field and made four birdies in a six-hole stretch in his back nine to increase the logjam for the lead. McIlroy had been eight back earlier in his round but set the clubhouse target, moments before Gotterup briefly claimed the solo lead, before Hovland and Gerard both took advantage of the par-five sixth to edge ahead on 11 under. Gerard added another birdie from nine feet at the seventh and traded pars with Hovland around the turn, before doubling his advantage over a congested chasing pack by holing from 12 feet at the 12th.
Hovland converted from a similar distance to birdie the next and nailed a 15-footer to match Gerard's par at the 14th, then picked up a shot at the 15th to pull level with his playing partner on 13 under. Both players saved par at the 16th and Hovland claimed the outright lead with an eight-foot birdie at the 17th, before the pair traded birdies at the par-five last to ensure they would go out in the last group again on Sunday. The Masters champion was seven off the halfway lead and showed little sign of a title push when he scrambled a par at the first and made a three-putt bogey at the second, only to birdie his next two holes and take advantage of the par-five sixth.
McIlroy added another from 10 feet at the par-four seventh but failed to take advantage of the driveable eighth, then saw a close-range birdie at the 10th cancelled out by a dropped shot at the next. The world No 2 picked up a shot from eight feet at the 12th and holed three birdie chances of 12 feet on longer in consecutive holes from the 15th, seeing him equal his lowest career round at East Lake. "I got myself back in the tournament," McIlroy said.
"I think the difference today was I just putted a lot better. I think I lost maybe a combined three (shots) on the greens over the first two days and I probably gained over three on the greens today. "The ball striking has been there.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
