To no one's surprise, Scottie Scheffler holds a two-stroke lead at the halfway point of the Hero World Challenge. He arrived in the Bahamas as the defending champion and heavy favorite, a position he has grown accustomed to in recent years.
But how he rose to the top of the leaderboard is a little surprising. This week, he adopted a new putting grip and opted to use the “claw” on putts from within 15 feet. It worked out Friday for Scheffler, who birdied six of his first seven holes and finished the round at 7-under 29. In the end, he shot an 8-under 64 and had just one birdie on the back nine, but Scheffler led Akshay Bhatia and Justin. He has a two-stroke lead over Thomas, who introduced a new driver this week.
Another player lurking is 2025 Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, who shot a 5-under 67 on Friday. Bradley is the penultimate pairing with Thomas in Scheffler's back four.
Meanwhile, first-round leader Cameron Young didn't get anything done on the second day. He struggled on Friday due to a cold putter, but signed with a round of 11, 11 strokes more than his 64 on Thursday. He also hampered his momentum with poor approaches and wayward tee shots.
Here's what you need to know about Round 3.
tournament leaderboard
1. Scottie Scheffler -13 — 67-64
T2. Akshay Bhatia – 11 — 67-66
T2. Justin Thomas -11 — 66-67
4. Keegan Bradley -9 — 68-67
T5. Sepp Straka -7 — 69-68
T5. Im Sung Jae -7 — 69-68
T5. Ludwig Oberg -7 — 67-70
T8. Saheth Segala -6 — 67-71
T8. Patrick Cantlay -6 — 67-71
T10. Tom Kim -5 — 74-65
T10. Robert McIntyre -5 — 68-71
T10. Cameron Young -5 — 64-75
T13.Russell Henry -4 — 69-71
T13. Sam Barnes -4 — 69-71
15. Nick Dunlap -3 — 68-73
T16. Brian Herman -2 — 70-72
T16. Aaron Lau -2 — 71-71
18. Windham Clark -1 — 73-70
19. Jason Day +1 — 75-70
20. Mathieu Pabon +3 — 74-73
Live odds after round 3
Odds for players to win provided: fan duel:
Scotty Scheffler: -230
Justin Thomas: +500
Akshay Bhatia: +1100
Keegan Bradley: +2500
Ludwig Oberg: +3000
Im Sung Jae: +3500
Patrick Cantlay: +5500
Sepp Straka: +7500
Saheeth Segala: +10000
Robert McIntyre: +15000
Sam Burns: +15000
Cameron Young: +17000
Russell Henry: +17000
Tom Kim: +17000
Nick Dunlap: +100000
Jason Day: +100000
Aaron Rai: +100000
Windham Clark: +100000
Tom Kim: +100000
Jason Day: +100000
Mathieu Pabon: +100000
How to watch
NBC and Golf Channel will provide live television coverage. peacock stream Too.
Always Eastern:
Saturday, December 7th: 12:30pm – 2:30pm (Golf Channel) 2:30pm – 5pm (NBC)
Sunday, December 8th: 11:30am-1:30pm (Golf Channel) 1:30pm-4:30pm (NBC)
Round 3 tee time
Always Eastern:
11:10am — Jason Day, Mathieu Pabon
11:21am — Aaron Rye, Windham Clark
11:32am — Nick Dunlap, Brian Harman
11:43am — Russell Henry, Sam Burns
11:54am — Patrick Cantlay, Tom Kim
12:05pm — Nick Dunlap, Sam Barnes
12:16pm — Ludwig Oberg, Sahis Tegara
12:27pm — Sepp Straka, Sungjae Im
12:38pm — Justin Thomas, Keegan Bradley
12:49pm — Scotty Scheffler, Akshay Bhatia
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
