The third round in Memphis was phenomenal, with PGA Tour players moving up and down the leaderboard at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Hideki Matsuyama shot a 6-under 64 for the second straight week and is in the lead by five strokes at 17-under par. Nick Dunlap is in second place at 12-under par. Viktor Hovland is in third place at 11-under par.
TPC Southland got a bit of a boost from the winds picking up, making things more difficult for the players.
With 18 holes to go and the leaderboard still in the standings, here are three of the biggest takeaways from Day 3 at TPC Southwind.
3. Kevin Kisner is the missing piece for NBC’s broadcast team
Kevin Kisner is a gem in the broadcast booth.
His quirky jokes and quick-witted comments keep the rest of the staff on their toes. Kisner brings a sense of lightness to the on-air team, and it’s good to see him back on the air for the first time since March.
He still plays on the PGA Tour, but his personality is a perfect fit for the NBC broadcast.
He, Smillie Kaufman and Johnson Wagner bring a youthful vibe to this traditional sport, bringing something fresh and new.
Photo by Ben Jared/PGA Tour via Getty
Golf TV is in desperate need of witty, fun people on its broadcast team.
Kisner is that guy, and hopefully NBC doesn’t drop the bag and lose him.
One of his best lines in Moving Day was when he called Nick Dunlap a “bleeding shark in the water.”
Kudos to the former Georgia Bulldogs for bringing life to the broadcast.
2. Viktor Hovland is starting to move in the right direction
Hovlan’s game is far from perfect, but he is gradually becoming more consistent.
“We’re seeing more and more good swings. We’re seeing more of those swings,” Hovlan said Saturday. “The ball is starting to move the way we want it to.”
“I still feel myself reverting to my old habits with the mis-shots and the bad shots, but my mistakes are a lot smaller than they were before. Before, my mistakes were ridiculous, but now I’ve got them under control and I’m hitting the up-and-downs, the long putts, everything better. When I see my dispersion patterns starting to get smaller, it makes playing golf a lot easier.”
Through three rounds of play, his record was 70 wins, 63 losses and 66 draws.
Hovlan led the SG in tee shots on Saturday with a +1.406, and was second in approaches to the green (+3.712).
The Norwegian golfer was the only player without a bogey on Saturday, making just one bogey over the final 36 holes.
Hovland may be heading in the right direction at the right time this season.
1. Nick Dunlap is so good he could win his third PGA Tour title.
Nick Dunlap is a beast. After 36 holes he shot 67-65-66. His 4-under 66 on Saturday has him in second place on the leaderboard.
A result like this would be huge for his career and could land him a spot in the Tour Championship.
But second place isn’t what he’s after. Dunlap is hungry and wants another win.
If he wins Sunday, it will be his third PGA Tour victory. He won the American Express as an amateur and then the Barracuda Championship. Those two victories earned him a spot in Memphis.
The former Alabama golfer is in good enough form to qualify for Atlanta as a rookie, and if he can maintain his aggressiveness, the youngster could make history again, as he and Hideki Matsuyama will play in the final group on Sunday.
Dunlap is looking to defend his U.S. Amateur title and is looking to win for the third time in less than eight months.
The FedEx St. Jude Championship has a loaded leaderboard and should see some great competition in Sunday’s final round.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow us for more golf articles. Follow You can follow us on all major social platforms. You can also follow us on Twitter Follow Her Instagram account is @golf_girl_sl.
