05/03/25 09:32:00
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05/03 21:31 CDT Scottie Scheffler's lead grows to 8 in the dark at his hometown
Byron Nelson
Scottie Scheffler's lead grows to 8 in the dark at his hometown Byron Nelson
By SCHUYLER DIXON
AP Sports Writer
McKINNEY, Texas (AP) --- Scottie Scheffler's comfortable lead at his hometown
CJ Cup Byron Nelson was the same late in the third round as it was at the
start, even without the dominance the top-ranked player showed over the first
36 holes.
Then he found that form again, and made a big lead even bigger at 23 under
while finishing after sunset Saturday night.
Scheffler has an eight-shot lead after a 5-under 66 capped by birdies on three
of the final five holes --- the last on the par-5 18th more than 13 hours after
the day began with about half the field needing to complete the second round,
including 18 players who hadn't even started. There was a six-hour weather
delay Friday.
Erik von Rooyen (65), Adam Schenk (65) and Ricky Castillo (67) are 15 under,
with Kurt Kitiyama (68) and Jhonattan Vegas (67) another shot back.
Scheffler had his first two bogeys of the tournament and was 2 under for the
day through 13 holes after missing the PGA Tour record for the lowest 36-hole
score by one shot at 124 (18 under). His six-shot lead after two rounds was a
Nelson record.
At the short par-4 14th, Scheffler drove the green before settling for a tap-in
birdie, then put his tee shot at the long par-3 15th inside four feet for
another birdie.
The horn for darkness had already sounded after Scheffler, Castillo and Sam
Stevens teed off on 18 when the group in front was still in the fairway but
cleared them to hit to try to save time. The players had the option to finish.
Scheffler couldn't see his second shot from the rough after impact, but it
reached the green. He two-putted from 31 feet for the biggest 54-hole lead on
the PGA Tour since Rory McIroy also led by eight on the way to winning the 2011
U.S. Open.
"I saw it take off the way I wanted it to," Scheffler said of his approach on
18. "But after that, I couldn't see that far. Really, I'd say the most
challenging part was reading a green."
Van Rooyen was in the rough beside the green on 18 in two shots and looking for
another birdie that would have matched the low around of the day, only to need
four strokes from there for a bogey.
"The rough was quite thin, so I thought I could scoot the ball through it," van
Rooyen said. "I didn't the first time. Then it came out dead the second time as
well. So I just got it wrong."
Schenk, who had missed six consecutive cuts coming into the Nelson, left with a
similar feeling on his matching 65 after a bogey on 15 stalled his momentum at
the TPC Craig Ranch course in the Dallas suburbs.
Stevens started the day alone in second behind Scheffler, and was the only
remaining player without a bogey when he had four in a five-hole stretch. The
native of nearby Fort Worth was among five players at 13 under after a 70. That
group included Antoine Rozner, who had the low around of the day at 63.
Jordan Spieth, Scheffler's fellow Dallas resident and former University of
Texas golfer, shot a second consecutive 67 and is 10 under. He was the first of
the two to make his tour debut in the Nelson when he contended on Sunday as a
16-year-old in 2010.
Scheffler's first appearance was four years later, and it will take a massive
turn of events for him not to be the first of the good friends to win perhaps
their favorite event. He's set to become the first high school golfer from
Dallas to win the Nelson since Scott Verplank in 2007. He could also become the
third wire-to-wire winner in the history of the tournament after Mark Hayes
(1976) and Tom Watson (1980).
"I mean, I just walked off the golf course," Scheffler said in the darkness of
a post-round interview. "Tomorrow is not really a concern of mine right now."
Scheffler's first bogey came at the par-3 fourth hole, when his tee shot came
up short and he missed a 7-footer for par. The two-time Masters winner missed
five fairways after missing a total of six the first two rounds.
"I definitely wasn't as sharp as I was the last two days, but overall I posted
a pretty good score," Scheffler said. "Over a 72-hole tournament, you're going
to have days, or typically at least one day where your swing's not firing on
all cylinders like it was the first two days. It's all about how you battle
through that."
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