Ponte Vedra, Fla. – We didn't have to look at the scoreboard to see what day it was in the Player Championship.
They just needed to see the infuriating expressions on the players' faces.
Really, all you needed to do was look at Scotty Schaeffler.
The world's No. 1 player is one of his superpowers whose ability to keep his wings fully in the face of adversity, missed a short putt and whipped a golf ball into the lake at the age of 16 and hit a wedge into his bag after hitting a false approach shot on the 18th green.
Schaeffler appeared to be more rattling with the unpredictability of the gusts and swirling wind conditions that wreaked havoc in Saturday's third round than when he was arrested in the second round of the PGA Championship in Louisville last year.
That day was devilish. The conditions were dangerous. The best players in the world often looked confused.
Everyone seemed to be irritated.
All but JJ Spaun, a 34-year-old journeyman from California, opened his veins after Friday's round, talking to a reporter who spoke about the difficulty of traveling on a PGA tour and the difficulty of leaving his family.
Spaun, who shot a 2-under par 70 on Saturday, stylishly secured a 54-hole lead when he spun around the hole to fill a 25-foot par save putt that disappeared into the cup.
He is another great round from changing life forever, standing at 12 under par with one-shot leads into the final round.
“I'm sure people have opinions and doubts,” Spawn said, referring to the fact that he wasn't one of the big guns he predicted to win the tournament. “But I'm playing well, and as long as I believe I can win this thing, it really cares.”
Bud Cauley, who grew up in the shadows of TPC Sawgrass and attended the tournament as a child, had 11 under par, making it his first shot. Alex Smarley is 10 under.
Lucas Glover and Akshay Bhatia are both 9 under.
Rory McIlroy and Corey Conners are 8 under, followed by a long list of players with 7 under par. Patrick Cantray, Cepstraka, Jake Knapp and Danny Walker entered the field when Jason Day got sick.
“[I’m] It's never been since then,” McIlroy said. “The wind should still be blowing tomorrow, so I saw a few guys struggling along the way.
On this day there were gusts of winds of over 30 mph, and there was no shortage of stress.
Will Zaratoris was tied to the lead with 11 under pars, quartering the 14th hole and playing the final five holes with nine over pars.
Min Woolly, who had a lead share with 11 under par over the weekend, shot 78 and fell to 5 under.
Starting the day with a 5-under par, Ricky Fowler said he was looking forward to the challenge of playing with the wind, shooting 82.
Fowler was eight over par on his first eight holes.
Emiliano Grillo shot an 85 after entering the day with a 6-under par.
Only three players in the final 10 pairings filmed the round with pars: Spaun (70), Glover (71) and Straka (71).
Two-time defending champion Schaeffler looked as unstable as he was, and felt like a symbol of a day of trials.
The biggest deficit overcame by the player champion was five shots, which took place three times.
Schaeffler, who has a 7 shot at 5 under, was asked if he thought he could win three consecutive players.
“You never know,” he said. “Maybe do something weird tomorrow.
Spaun rarely rests comfortably in the cauldron on Sundays.
He won four times in his career, winning one. His only career victory at the 2022 Texas Open.
Only five of the past 17 Player Championship 54 Holes leaders have won.
An interesting side note about Spaun is that his caddy Mark Carens was Si Woo Kim's caddy when Kim signed the player in 2017.
Spaun called Par Putt “gigantic” of 18. Everything was really good for me.
“It was definitely crushing on these conditions, which are already difficult courses. I knew I had to be patient and it paid off today.”
There is a potential thunderstorm in Sunday's forecast, so the final round of tee times will rise, with players turning off the leader at 10am and three zamares coming out
