Scottie Scheffler looks unstoppable heading into final round at East Lake

Scottie Scheffler is just 18 holes away from securing his first FedEx Cup championship. Heading into the final round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, Scheffler holds a five-stroke lead over Collin Morikawa after shooting a 5-under 66 on Saturday. The winner on Sunday will claim the prestigious FedEx Cup title and a $25 million prize.

Scheffler, who started slowly, caught fire on the back nine, birdieing the 14th, 16th, 17th, and 18th holes to extend his lead over Morikawa, who shot a 4-under 67. Scheffler is now 26 under par and remains focused on maintaining his current approach. “Keep doing what I’ve been doing, staying in the moment, staying patient out there,” Scheffler said. “I’ve bogeyed the first hole two of the last three days, and both times when I bogeyed the first hole I didn’t make any bogeys after that, so that’s kind of good momentum for me.” Ranked No. 1 in the world, Scheffler entered the Tour Championship leading the FedEx Cup race for the third consecutive year. However, he has been denied the title in the past two years—by Rory McIlroy in 2022 and Viktor Hovland in 2023.

This season, however, has been one of the best in recent PGA Tour history for Scheffler. If he closes the deal on Sunday, he’ll become the first player to win seven times in a season since Tiger Woods did so in 2007. However, the tournament is far from over. Scheffler famously lost a six-shot lead to McIlroy on the final day of the 2022 Tour Championship. “It’s disappointing anytime I don’t win,” Scheffler reflected. “I felt like two years ago I had a really good chance to win, wasn’t able to get it done. Last year I was close and I think I had a couple bad last rounds.”

At 21 under, Morikawa remains Scheffler’s closest competitor. “Not exactly the moving day that I needed, but I knew this entire week I was going to need something special to come out on top and I’m going to need something very special,” said the two-time major champion. “But I believe in myself, and hopefully that comes out [Sunday].” Scheffler’s round began with a bogey, and he struggled on the greens early, failing to sink a putt longer than five feet over his first six holes. Meanwhile, Morikawa, who began the day four strokes behind, narrowed the gap to two after birdieing the par-5 sixth hole.

The seventh hole proved to be pivotal. Scheffler finally holed a birdie putt from 15 feet, while Morikawa missed a 3 1/2-foot par putt, resulting in a two-shot swing. Both players birdied the eighth hole and remained quiet until the final stretch. Scheffler birdied the 14th hole, while Morikawa made a stunning tee shot on the par-3 15th, leaving himself just over three feet for birdie. Scheffler responded by escaping a fairway bunker on the 16th and sinking a 24-foot putt to stretch his lead to five strokes. Both players birdied the final two holes.

Reflecting on the competition, Morikawa said, “Some of these holes … if we’re both in the fairway and you have a wedge, you’re going to see some good shots. It’s nice that if he hits one, that I stick one close and vice versa. I just hope to have some swings [Sunday]. I’ve got to start making putts. I’ve got to make everything [Sunday]. It is what it is.” Xander Schauffele, who began the day in third place at 16 under, shot an even-par 71 and was overtaken by Sahith Theegala, who birdied his last five holes and seven of his last eight to shoot a 66 and move to 17 under.

Theegala’s score could have been even lower, but on his third hole, he self-reported a rules infraction after moving sand on his backswing in a bunker, resulting in a double bogey. Although rules officials reviewed the incident after the round, there was no conclusive evidence to overturn the penalty. “I’ve just played so much golf,” Theegala said. “You spend so much time of your life staring down at the lie you have, the ball you have, and it just did not feel like a normal fairway bunker shot. It felt like some of the sand moved. At the end of the day, I’m good with the ruling, and I think it’s very fair that I was assessed two shots.” Wyndham Clark and Adam Scott are tied for fifth at 15 under after both shot 68, while Sam Burns moved to 14 under with a 68 of his own.

Shane Lowry of Ireland fired a 6-under 65, making seven birdies to rise to 13 under, tying Viktor Hovland (10 under) for the low round of the day. Lowry sank birdie putts from 45 and 25 feet. “I worked a lot out here in this big putting green on my speed drills,” said Lowry, playing in his first Tour Championship. “It’s been going pretty well. I felt I putted quite nicely the back half of the season. It’s nice to see a couple of long ones drop.”