Xander Schauffele flexed his muscle tissues at TPC Sawgrass Saturday. He performed alongside 36-hole chief Wyndham Clark, getting into the day down by 4 pictures.
But, Schauffele fired off a bogey-free 7-under 65 to complete at 17-under for the event. His very good play helped him surpass Clark, who shot a 2-under 70 on Saturday.
Whereas he was in a position to make three birdies on the again 9, it was a grind for him. He confirmed resilience all through the spherical when discovering a fairway proved unattainable.
“I solely hit two fairways on the again 9,” Schauffele mentioned. “Whenever you make 58-footers, you get up-and-down on holes like 18 from the entrance tough; it takes somewhat little bit of stress off sure components of your recreation. All in all, it was a little bit of a grind.”
The reigning Olympic gold medalist carded seven birdies to submit his second 65 of the week, however he needed to have ice in his veins to make it occur.
“At instances up to now, I’ll get a bit forward of myself and lose confidence once I shouldn’t,” he mentioned. “At present, I attempted to remain in my very own little field with Austin [Kaiser, his caddie] and never have a look at too many leaderboards once I didn’t should. There’s no want to do this. I heard roars throughout the property, and I actually simply stayed in my lane.”
That mindset paid off for him.
“I maintain myself to a reasonably excessive normal at instances, and generally it’s not good to do this throughout the center of the spherical,” he defined. “You’ve received to flick on the self-belief and positivity versus questioning why you’re not doing what you’re speculated to be doing.”
Schauffele scored when Clark couldn’t and saved par when he wanted it most.
He and Clark may have simply entered Sunday tied at 17-under. Nevertheless, Clark hit a horrible tee shot on 17, the notorious island inexperienced gap, hitting his tee shot simply 102 yards and into the water.
The previous Oregon Duck made bogey and dropped to 16-under.
Schauffele proceeded to hit his ball onto the inexperienced however left himself a tough putt. He had glorious pace management on his birdie putt, however simply missed. The 7-time PGA Tour winner settled for par however left that gap with a one-shot lead.
Whereas as we speak’s spherical ought to encourage confidence, historical past means that Schauffele could not take house the trophy on Sunday.
Not one of the final eight gamers who held a 1-shot lead after 54 holes at this occasion have gone on to win, per The Athletic’s Justin Ray.
Schauffele has 12 runner-up finishes in his profession. He additionally has three third place finishes and 39 top-5s. The World No. 6 is infamous for arising quick at occasions when he may have gained, so the sort of stat is daunting.
One other letdown could also be within the offing for Schauffele, however perhaps it’s his time to lastly win one of many greatest occasions on the PGA Tour. He and Clark will stay paired for the ultimate spherical, however there are 5 gamers inside 5 pictures of Schauffele able to go low on Championship Sunday and steal his title.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Enjoying Via. For extra golf protection, you’ll want to comply with us @_PlayingThrough on all main social platforms. You may as well comply with her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.