Scheffler soars to the top

On a hot and humid day at Albany, Bahamas, it was the world’s top-ranked player who lit up the leaderboard Saturday, as World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler made a big move during the third round of the 2023 Hero World Challenge. After finishing second in his previous two appearances at Albany, Scheffler will look to close out the Hero World Challenge with a victory Sunday.

Scheffler took advantage of the par-5s on Saturday. An eagle on the third hole, a birdie on the sixth and another eagle on the 15th helped propel the Texan to a third-round 65 (-7) and a three-stroke lead heading into the final round.

“I’ve been kind of on the outside looking in going into Sunday the last two years,” Scheffler said. “I could be wrong, but I remember it being I had two really good back nines to give
myself kind of an outside chance. The first year was definitely outside chance. I think last
year I maybe was one or two back going into 18.”

Scheffler wasn’t the only player who made a move Saturday. Matt Fitzpatrick carded a 65 (-7) while Jason Day posted a 66 (-6), scores bested only by the 54-hole leader. Fitzpatrick sits in solo-second after three rounds, but he remains loose heading into the final round.

“I’m just trying to play as well as I can,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m just having an enjoyable week.”

Of the top seven players on the leaderboard – Scheffler, Fitzpatrick, Justin Thomas, Day, Tony Finau, Collin Morikawa and Jordan Spieth, – six are in search of their first Hero World Challenge victory. Only Spieth has previously won the event (2014).

Tournament host Tiger Woods carded a third-round 71 and is even par heading into Sunday.

The final round of the 2023 Hero World Challenge gets underway Sunday at 10:46 a.m. TV coverage begins at 11 a.m. on GOLF Channel and continues on NBC at 1:30 p.m.