While Hideki Matsuyama, who was in the lead after 54 holes, looked to have it all on the greens, world number one Scottie Scheffler failed to score.
That left Scheffler seven strokes behind going into the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship. The reigning Masters champion lost 1.5 strokes on the greens and was in 61st place out of 70 players on Saturday. Scheffler let out a rare eruption of frustration on the 12th hole. Slam the putter face After another missed birdie, he had the ball in his hands.
Scheffler missed four birdie putts inside 12 feet. He made just 53 feet overall, nearly half of which came on the par-3 11th hole, where he sank a 24-foot birdie putt. But it was the only putt Scheffler made from five feet or further.
“It hit me on the lip a couple of times, but I didn’t think I hit it very well,” Scheffler said.
“There were times where I felt like I was getting away with hitting some good balls and making some good saves, but today I felt like I got hit on the lip a lot. But, man, that goes on and on.”
He still had four birdies and three bogeys for a 1-under 69, but he knows he’ll have to play better on the greens if he wants to threaten Matsuyama on Sunday.
“I just want to get the ball a little closer to the hole and give myself more opportunities,” Scheffler added.
“Today, like I said, I felt like I let in a few mistakes, so I just want to get a little better and give myself more chances today.”
Matsuyama is five strokes behind rookie Nick Dunlap, who is in sole second place at 12 under par, while Viktor Hovland shot a 4-under 66 on Saturday to move to 11 under par and into sole third place.
And Scheffler has made big comebacks before: After trailing by five strokes to Xander Schauffele at THE PLAYERS Championship, he shot an 8-under 64 to win by one stroke, then played the best round of his career in Paris, overcoming a four-stroke deficit with a 9-under 62 to win the gold medal.
But seven holes may be too much to overcome, with 11 holes at TPC Southwind that involve water, so Scheffler is optimistic about his chances.
“It’s a golf course that offers a lot of opportunity, but also a lot of trouble,” Scheffler said.
“It’s going to be tough to close out the last nine holes, there’s a lot of water coming in at the end, so I’ll just try to get off to a good start. Hideki is obviously playing great golf, but I’ll try my best to put a little bit of pressure on him and see what happens.”
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
