World number one golfer Scottie Scheffler maintained his lead in the Hero World Challenge with a 7-under 65, his best round of the week thus far.
Scheffler, who finished runner-up to Viktor Hovland in the previous two editions, had shot a 69 and 66 on the first two days.
He will be challenged by Matt Fitzpatrick on the final day as the Englishman jumped three spots to be second with a 7-under 65. With the overall aggregate of 203, he is three shots behind 2022 Masters winner Scheffler.
Justin Thomas is two shots behind Fitzpatrick after a 4-under 68 in the third round. Fitzpatrick’s 46-foot eagle putt on the 15th stood out.
Another big mover on the day was Jason Day who gained four spots to be Tied-4th alongside Tony Finau, who both have tallied 206 for the week.
Tournament host and 15-time major winner Tiger Woods is way back in the 20-man field but he is happy with how his body has responded in his first event since April.
He is Tied-16th alongside Hovland after carding a 1-under 71 on Saturday. Woods, who is 16 shots behind the leader, had managed 75 on the opening day before improving to a 70 on Friday.
“I still have the game. It’s whether or not the body can do it. I’m very pleasantly surprised at how I’ve recovered every day. My activations in the gym have been good,” said Woods.
“To be able to knock off some of the rust as I have this week and showed myself that I can recover each and every day, that was kind of an unknown.
“I’ve walked this far. I’ve done all my training. But add in playing and concentration and adrenaline and all those other factors that speed up everything, I’m very excited how the week’s turned out,” added an upbeat Woods, who plans to play one tournament a month next year if his body permits.
Leader Scheffler has been consistent through the week and is primed to win his maiden HWC title.
He is particularly pleased with his putting having made a change to his putter this week.
Scheffler was on fire from the get go and collected two eagles and four birdies before losing a shot on the 18th hole.
“Like I said at the beginning of the week, I feel as if I’m much more clear in what I need to be working on and a lot of that has to do with how I’m set up over the ball.
“When I’m set up in the right position, then I feel like my mechanics are really good. That’s what I’m focused on. I’m not focused on setting up perfectly.
“I have my feels that I’m trying to get to in the setup and then not trying to be perfect, just trying to hit good putts,” he said.
Scheffler is much better placed to lift the trophy having missed out on the last two years. He is backing himself to go all the way.
“Yeah, I think I’ve been kind of on the outside looking in going into Sunday.
