Scottie Scheffler is No. 1, in more ways than one.
Scheffler, top-ranked in the World Golf Rankings, posted a six-under par 64 and is tied for the lead with 10th-ranked Matt Fitzpatrick of England heading to the final round of the BMW Championship on the North Course at Olympia Fields Country Club near Chicago.
In addition, Scheffler is projected to be leading the FedEx Cup point standings with one round left in the second event of the PGA Tour playoffs, and only the top 30 after Sunday’s final round will advance to the Tour Championship next week at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, where the FedEx Cup champion will be crowned.
“I’ve putted the ball really the last few days, but I saw a few more go in today,” said the 27-year-old Scheffler, who has claimed all six of his PGA Tour victories in the last two years, including the 2022 Masters and the 2023 Players Championship. “I drove the ball pretty well, too, and I like playing this course because sometimes you can hit driver off the deck sometimes, too.
“This is really a good golf course and it’s fun to play, because it gives you some different options off the tee and in the fairway. It was a little windy today, but I heard it’s going to be less breezy tomorrow, so that should make it even more fun and exciting for both the players and these great fans.
“I know that I’m going to need one more good round tomorrow to win.”
Scheffler, who also won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour several years ago, birdied three of the first five holes, and after making his lone bogey at No. 9, birdied the next three holes and added one more while recording a 54-hole score of 11-under-par 199.
Fitzpatrick, who claimed his second PGA Tour victory by beating Jordan Spieth in a playoff at the RBC Heritage in April, held a one-stroke lead before making his only bogey on the last hole of a 66 that included three straight birdies on the back nine.
“I’m delighted with the last three days and bouncing back from a rough one last week,” said Fitzpatrick, the 2021 U.S. Open champion. “Hopefully, I can push on tomorrow and see where it goes. I’ve spent plenty of time working on technical stuff lately, and it all seems to be starting to click.”
Eight-ranked Brian Harman, winner of the 150th Open championship, had three birdies on the first seven holes on his way to a 67 and is one shot behind in solo third, followed one more down by seventh-ranked Max Homa, the second-round co-leader after a course-record 62, who made a triple-bogey 7 on the seventh hole in his 71.
Second-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who claimed his record third FedEx Cup last year, birdied four of the first six holes on his way to a 67 and is three shots behind in a tie for fifth with fifth-ranked Viktor Hovland of Norway, who sank a 33-foot eagle putt on the first hole and a 16-footer for birdie on the last in a 65.
Sam Burns collected four birdies on each nine to tie Homa’s course record with a bogey-free 62 and is four strokes back in a tie for seventh with sixth-ranked Xander Schauffele of La Jolla and San Diego State, who birdied two of the last three holes for a 67, Denny McCarthy, who shot a bogey-free 65, and Justin Rose of England, the 2018 FedEx Cup champion, who birdied four of the first six holes in a 68.
Lucas Glover, the 2009 U.S. Open champion who won the Wyndham Championship and the FedEx St. Jude Championship the last two weeks, birdied the first two holes in a 69 and his tied for 19th, while fourth-ranked Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos UCLA, the two time defending BMW champion, made only two birdies in a 71 and is tied for 19th, and third-ranked Jon Rahm of Spain, the 2020 BMW winner, made four birdies and five bogeys in a 71 to tie for 38th.
For complete results, final-round tee times and the FedEx Cup standings, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard
