Scottie Scheffler maintained his position atop the leaderboard at the FedEx St Jude Championship in Memphis heading into the concluding round. The world’s top-ranked golfer carried a two-shot advantage over his nearest competitors after posting a two-under 68 in the third round, bringing his cumulative score to 13 under par for the tournament.
Scheffler’s lead was narrower than the three-stroke advantage he had established at the midway point, when he had produced a course-record 61. During Saturday’s play, he recorded birdies at four holes but also suffered a bogey at his penultimate hole after placing his second shot into a left-hand bunker. Sam Burns and Sungjae Im emerged as the primary challengers, both sitting 11 strokes under par. Burns achieved an eight-under 62 with no bogeys, while Im posted a three-under 67. Defending FedExCup Playoffs champion Tommy Fleetwood remained in contention five strokes back at eight under.
Scheffler is pursuing his first tournament victory since January, having recorded five runners-up finishes and nine top-five results in the intervening months. Meanwhile, world No. 2 Rory McIlroy found himself in a difficult position at tied-67th place, 19 shots behind the leader after carding a two-over 72. McIlroy has yet to record an under-par round this week, and his third round concluded with a double bogey at the 18th hole following a wayward tee shot that found the water.
The FedEx St Jude Championship represents the opening event of the playoff format, with only the top 70 in season-long FedExCup standings competing. The leading 50 finishers advance to the BMW Championship, with the top 30 subsequently reaching the Tour Championship. Winners at the first two events earn 750 points each before the standings reset for the final competition.
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