HOUSTON — Scottie Scheffler made a double bogey after what he believed was a good shot. He then made two consecutive birdies and finished with a 4-under-par 66 on Saturday, placing him in a five-way tie for the lead in the Houston Open.
Scheffler is aiming to be the first player since Dustin Johnson in 2017 to win three consecutive PGA Tour starts. He seems to have a good chance, especially considering his limited experience in winning on tour.
David Skinns, a 42-year-old from England, scored a 65 and was the first to finish at 9-under 201. He was joined by Stephan Jaeger of Germany (66), Thomas Detry of Belgium (67) and Alejandro Tosti of Argentina (68), all of whom are vying to win on the PGA Tour for the first time.
Three other players with one PGA Tour win, including U.S. Amateur champion Nick Dunlap, were one shot behind.
Tony Finau, who led by two shots going into the third round, did not make a birdie until the 13th hole on another challenging day at Memorial Park. He salvaged a 72 and remained closely behind, just two shots off the lead.
Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player, recently won at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship.
“Winning the last two doesn’t help me do anything tomorrow,” Scheffler said. “I think it’s going to be another pretty challenging day out there with high winds. Stick to my process and control what I can control out there.”
Some elements were beyond his control at Memorial Park.
The top position was highly contested for much of the day. Scheffler entered the competition with four birdies in a stretch of five holes around the turn and seemed close to taking the lead. However, he turned a birdie opportunity into a bogey when his pitch on the reachable par-4 13th went over the green. He was lucky that his next chip did not come back to his feet.
But what puzzled him was the par-3 15th, where the tee and pin were moved forward, making the hole play only 121 yards. Scheffler’s tee shot landed about 6 feet from the hole, and he heard the gallery cheer — and then groan.
The ball spun back just enough to catch a slope, then a steeper slope in front of the green, and it kept rolling right through the rough and into the water. Scheffler covered his mouth with his hand and then began to laugh.
“What are you going to do?” he said to his caddie.
The only option was to take a penalty drop, and he failed to get up-and-down for his second double bogey in two days.
“I didn’t expect it to spin back, I didn’t expect it to spin back off the green and I didn’t expect it to be in the water,” he said.
But he responded with a 4-iron to the green on the par-5 16th and another excellent shot to a tough pin to 4 feet for birdie on the 17th.
Tosti, aiming to become the fourth PGA Tour rookie to win this early in the season, recovered from a double bogey on the par-3 second when he four-putted (the first one went off the green) and showed a lot of enthusiasm and determination for the rest of the round.
Dunlap became the first amateur in 33 years to win on the PGA Tour at The American Express in January, turned pro and has struggled since then. He was at dinner with his caddie Friday night trying to figure what needed to be better. He found a solution.
Dunlap said that all he wanted to do was play well with what he had, not necessarily perfect golf, but just getting the easy shots close to the hole and not taking three strokes to put the ball in the hole.
Part of that was making seven birdies for a score of 63, and now he has a chance to win on Sunday. Taylor Moore and Akshay Bhatia also had a score of 8-under 202 and shot 67 each. Moore had won the Valspar Championship a year ago, and Bhatia had won the Barracuda Championship last summer.
Finau was the only player who couldn't get anything going. After a great day of making shots the day before, he struggled with his putter, missing two par putts from within 10 feet and two birdie opportunities from about the same distance.
He made birdie on the 13th hole by reaching the green in one shot and then putting twice. However, he hit the ball into the water on the 15th hole and ended up with a bogey. Then, on the par-5 16th hole, his second shot went into the water, causing more problems. Despite this, he managed to chip the ball in for birdie after taking a penalty drop, putting him in good position for Sunday's round.
