Even as the world’s No. 1 golfer, Scottie Scheffler keeps finding ways to take pride in his accomplishments on a week-by-week basis.
Scheffler charged into the lead in the third round of the Memorial Tournament on Saturday, posting birdies on four of the final five holes for a 4-under-par 68 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.
“I was definitely proud of the way I finished, and it was really challenging,” he said.
Scheffler, at 8-under 208 going into Sunday’s final round, is one shot ahead of Ben Griffin, who had a bogey on the last hole. Griffin, who was the second-round co-leader and built his advantage to five strokes, notched 72.
“I did see that Ben got to 10-under, but … it’s not going to change my play in the middle of a Saturday,” Scheffler said.
Canada’s Nick Taylor holds third place at 5 under after shooting 74.
Scheffler had a pair of 70s in the first two rounds and then had 13 straight pars to begin his round Saturday.
“Around this golf course, even par, I think, today would have been a pretty solid score,” Scheffler said. “Like I said, I felt like I could have gotten a little bit more out of the round, but I felt like I was playing nice and just a couple lips here and there would have changed the score a little bit.”
Scheffler has won two of the last three tournaments he entered, including the PGA Championship three weeks ago. Griffin is aiming to win for the second week in a row after his first PGA Tour individual championship at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
They’ll be paired together, and there’s familiarity between the two.
“We played a lot of junior golf together,” Scheffler said. “He played at (North Carolina), I played at Texas, so we didn’t see too much of each other in college. But I feel like we played a lot of junior golf together and saw each other at the amateur circuit throughout the summer, a lot of those tournaments.”
Griffin had four consecutive bogeys — Nos. 9-12 — before later registering consecutive birdies to get back on track.
Taylor’s erratic back nine included a double bogey on No. 12 followed by a bogey and then a 117-yard shot from the fairway for an eagle to conclude an eventful three-hole stretch.
Yet when the round concluded, he figured he was in a fortunate position.
“I’ll be trying to chase him down,” Taylor said of Scheffler. “He’s obviously playing phenomenal, so I’ll have to play some of my best golf to be in the hunt there with the last few holes to go.”
Griffin and Taylor were tied for the lead when the third round began, but through nine holes Saturday, the gap was four strokes despite Griffin’s bogey on the ninth hole that reduced the margin from five shots.
Taylor began with a pair of bogeys before settling in with nine consecutive pars prior to his wild sequence.
Jordan Spieth (72), Keegan Bradley (68) and Austria’s Sepp Straka (66) are tied for fourth place at 3 under.
“I feel like I got myself back in the tournament,” Bradley said.
Spieth said he’s looking to add to his recent uptick.
“A course like this, no matter what happens (Sunday),” Spieth said, “I know if I’m able to play consistent golf on a course like this, then I’m heading the right direction.”
Akshay Bhatia, who was two shots behind Griffin and Taylor through the second round, tumbled to a tie for 23rd with a birdie-less 80 that included two double-bogeys.
–Field Level Media
