Hideki Matsuyama prevailed in a tightly packed field at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, shooting a 64 (six under par) to go into the final round with a five-stroke lead.
Denny McCarthy, who was tied for the lead with Matsuyama at the halfway point, added four bogeys to his round before recording his first birdie and is now tied for sixth place, eight strokes back.
Sam Burns had only five pars and a broken driver in his round of 70 and thus also fell back, while world number one Scottie Scheffler also lost the pace with his round of 69.
The top 50 players in the field will qualify for the BMW Championship, which takes place next week, and will thus be guaranteed participation in all signature events with a prize purse of US$20 million next year.
Viktor Hovland took a big step in that direction with a third-round 66 and now sits in third place, six strokes behind Matsuyama.
For Jordan Spieth, however, the season was practically over when he conceded two double bogeys in his round of 74 and only finished 69th in a field of 70 participants.
Will Zalatoris entered the postseason as the No. 49 seed and shot a 67 on Saturday to tie for sixth with McCarthy and is now all but certain to remain in the top 50.
Among those still in the mix heading into Sunday’s final round are Justin Rose and Adam Scott. Rose, currently ranked ninth at TPC Southwind in Memphis, is 55th in the FedEx Cup, while Scott – ranked 25th – is ranked 46th.
All PGA Tour events will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, with coverage of the FedEx St. Jude Championship continuing at 4pm on Sky Sports Golf on Sunday.
Watch all FedExCup playoffs live on Sky Sports Golf. Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, the streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app. This will give Sky Sports customers access to over 50 percent more live sport this year at no extra cost. You can find more information here.
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