Round three of the St. Jude Championship in the FedEx Cup playoffs saw Hideki Matsuyama tighten his grip on the lead with a fantastic six-under on Saturday. Six birdies and an eagle, coming on the par-five third, helped the Japanese star establish a five-stroke lead on -17 heading into the final round. Nick Dunlap holds solo second, one clear of a resurgent Viktor Hovland while Seamus Power continued his charge with a four-under day to sit tied for ninth spot.
“Off the tee and into the greens, it was very good,” reflected Hovland, in a warning to the rest of the field. “I put myself in nice positions off the tee and hit a lot of greens, gave myself a lot of looks. I would have liked to have put a ball a little bit closer, but it was very solid from start to finish.”
Power has played like a man on a mission around TPC Southwind. With a top 50 spot on the Order of Merit on offer, and qualification for next season’s Signature Events on the line, the Waterford man is heading into the final round swinging and he’s currently projected to finish the week 59th. He knows what he must do in the final round and Power’s form over the first three days in Memphis serves as a good omen for Sunday’s action. He sits tied for ninth, ten shots adrift of the leader Matsuyama.
Shane Lowry began at the tenth hole and his opening nine was an eventful one. He was out of the traps quickly with birdie to begin his round. Two dropped shots followed in the next four before the 10th ranked player showed his mettle with a 57-foot eagle putt on the par-five 16th cancelling out the errors. One more back and forth for Lowry on his return leg saw him home on even-par for the day. He sits in 39th and will look to consolidate his top ten spot on an exciting final day.
Rory McIlroy too, started his third walk around from the 10th tee. His was an altogether more challenging start, however. Bogey to open was followed by back-to-back doubles on the 12th and 13th holes. Without recourse to return to his bed, McIlroy ploughed on with a run of seven pars, before finally grabbing one back on the par-five third hole. Two more were gained and lost as he battled his way home. This resilience should help the FedEx ranked number three after a frustrating few days. Five-over for McIlroy and tied 66th. With the pressure off on Sunday can he make a charge?
“I am surprised, but I did play well today,” remarked Matsuyama about his lead. “I did put a new putter in the bag, and it’s been behaving very well. I’ve had the putter for a while, and I thought, well, it might be a good week to debut that putter. But I might change putters tonight even”
Lurking in the long grass on -10 sits World number one and Olympic Champion, Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns. Scheffler can never be counted out on a big final day, while Burns has already shown he has a 63 in the tank this week. They sit T4 while Zalatoris and Denny McCarthy lie one further back on nine-under.
McIlroy and Jake Knapp will start their final round in Tennessee at 12.55pm Irish time from the first tee. Rory will be hoping for a more productive start from the front nine on Sunday. Lowry and Min Woo Lee head out at 3.20pm while Seamus Power starts in the business end of proceedings in the playoffs. Akshay Bhatia will accompany Power as they tee off their final round in the business end of the Sunday pairings at 6.00pm.