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He’s been challenged, he’s been threatened and even tied at one point, but by the end of the third round of the Travelers Championship on Saturday, Xander Schauffele was only just able to maintain his lead over the rest of the field. On Sunday, he will seek his first win in a single PGA Tour event since January 2019.
To put that in perspective, the last time Schauffele won on the PGA Tour, Collin Morikawa — who now has six wins on the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour — was in California and eight events away from turning pro will.
Schauffele leads by a margin over Patrick Cantlay, with whom he teamed for his most recent PGA Tour win – a team win at the Zurich Classic earlier this season. Cantlay shot the round of the day on Saturday, turning a five-stroke deficit early in Round 3 into just a one-stroke difference before the final.
Here’s a look at how their third rounds went and what to expect on Sunday.
the leader
1. Xander Schauffele (-17): Even on the last hole on Saturday, it looked as if Schauffele could chase away his lead. When he teed off he was five ahead of Cantlay and four ahead of a couple of early Chargers and Schauffele started strong enough to hold that lead. However, he faltered in the middle of his round and played the first six holes on the back nine in 1 over.
He rebounded with birdies on #16 and #17 – the latter nearly knocking over the pin – as well as a clutch par putt on the last to keep his narrow lead. All in all, it was a nice day for Schauffele considering how many shots he’s caught from other competitors. Whether he manages to do that on two consecutive days will decide the outcome of this tournament.
Also consider this: According to Data Golf, Schauffele has entered the finals of a tournament seven times since the fall of 2015, leading or drawing. In those seven appearances, he beat what was expected of them in just two shots, winning two of the seven. That’s something to remember when it hits Sunday afternoon.
data gulf
Other contenders
2.Patrick Cantlay (-16)
3. Sahith Theegala (-14)
4.Kevin Kisner (-13)
T5. Martin Laird, KH Lee (-12)
Cantlay is obviously the biggest contender from this group and his 63 on Saturday was as easy as 63s can get. He was a null putter (meaning he didn’t win or lose any strokes for the field), and he led the field with strokes he won on the approach and from the tee to the green.
However, Cantlay is not the group’s best story. That would be Theegala, who competed at the Phoenix Open earlier this year and cried after accidentally missing a playoff between Cantlay and Scottie Scheffler, who went on to win. He plays excellent golf most of the year without missing a cut since The Players in March and recently a top 10 at the Memorial. A win here would be a fabulous end to a great rookie season for him (he would also be just the second rookie to win on the Tour this year).
An amateur claims
Amateur Michael Thorbjornsen – who is a 20-year-old aspiring junior at Stanford – shot 77-69 at Brookline last week to miss the US cut, but he has bounced back this week and is T7 after three rounds, six behind shovels . He probably won’t have an opportunity to run down the top of this board and become the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event in three decades, but the entire experience was a joy for him and a joy to watch.
“I think one thing that could help is to win or come second or third. I’m not getting paid either way so it’s just another tournament for me,” said Thorbjornsen. “It’s just another round of golf, I’m just trying to do the same thing I did today again. Focus on my swing as well as making certain positions and I don’t think I really want to regret it tomorrow.”
He is paired with Webb Simpson in the last round.
buddy trip
Cantlay and Schauffele are known to be fast friends and vacation buddies. I don’t know if that helps or hurts them on Sunday when it comes to winning that golf tournament – they both think it helps – but it will certainly be a topic of conversation. Hopefully if the momentum goes in the right direction we’ll see more shots like we did on Saturday at #17.
“It’ll be fun,” said Schauffele. “I was looking forward to playing in a finals with Pat. We don’t get paired very often in regular tournaments, only in these team tournaments. So there’s a certain level of comfort that we have in playing together hopefully that pays off and hopefully we can make a lot of birdies.”
“I think it probably helps that I play with him as I know his game really well,” he added. “If anything, I can untie him somehow. It’s going to be a lot of fun tomorrow.
“It’s nice to be with Xander,” Cantlay said. “We haven’t actually played that much together in tournament play, maybe only three times in the last three or four years. So it will be good to go out with him again. Hopefully they both play really good golf.”
Updated odds and tips
Here’s a look at updated 18 hole odds via Caesars Sportsbook.
- Xander Shovel: +110
- Patrick Cantlay: +130
- Sahith Theegala: 11-1
- Kevin Kisner: 20-1
- KH Lee: 30-1
- Scottie Scheffler: 50-1
- Webb Simpson: 50-1
- Martin Laird: 50-1
Give me Scheffler at 50-1 here. He’s got seven back but is perfectly capable of hitting a 61 or 62 on this golf course which could certainly be enough. I don’t like Schauffele at +110 and if I had to pick one of the guys at the top I’d go for a slightly longer number with Cantlay, although Schauffele is a bit underrated at that position. I was also able to persuade Theegala, who is third in the field in terms of strokes won (Scheffler is fourth).
