Scottie Scheffler finishes the day with a bogey, his only dropped shot, but will start the final round with a three-shot lead over Matt Fitzpatrick.
At Glance
‣ Scottie Scheffler finishes the day with a bogey, his only dropped shot of the day, but still maintains a three-shot lead over Matt Fitzpatrick.
‣ Scheffler and Spieth both struggle in the last shots of the day, with Spieth dropping back to -10.
‣ Scheffler manages to maintain his lead despite facing a tough par putt on the 16th hole.
‣ Tiger Woods expresses surprise at how well his body has held up during the tournament, hinting at potential future participation in 2024.
To lead by FIVE 🔥
Scottie Scheffler pours in his second eagle of the day.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR)
Well, well, well. Scheffler finishes with a bogey. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he exclaims, a bit too loud for comfort. His approach kicks right, and he’s facing a tough up-and-down on 18.
He’s fully focused, playing a solid shot, but it just rolls past some 15 feet. He shows great touch to bump and run it through the Bermuda grass – this guy’s got all the shots. Spieth, on the other hand, fails to convert his par putt and drops back to -10.
Now it’s Scottie’s turn. Nope. He ends with a bogey, his only dropped shot of the day. So, he is human after all. He’ll start the final round with a three-shot lead over Matt Fitzpatrick. That’s it for today, folks. See you tomorrow.
Last tee shots of the day. Spieth has the honor after that birdie on 17. But he finds the fairway bunker. Scheffler’s foot slide isn’t one of his best. He finds the rough and it looks like it’s finished in a jumpy kind of lie. If anyone is to have a chance on Sunday, Scheffler is going to need to give them some help… starting now.
Scottie’s second eagle of the day. To lead by FIVE. We’ve seen quite a few eagles today, but none better than this one – three perfect shots. Sadly we can only show you the boring one, here, the putt. Another pure strike finds the center of the cup.
Well, then. What do we have here? Scheffler is facing a lengthy par putt – not a birdie or an eagle putt, but a par putt. You’d think he has to miss this one on 16 to give the others a sniff on Sunday. But he doesn’t.
Not a lot else you can say. Scheffler makes his second eagle of the day at the par-5 15th to open up a five-shot lead. As dominant a tee-to-green performance as you will see. A 370-yard drive, 190-yard approach to 12 feet. One putt.
Eagle from way downtown. Matt Fitzpatrick sunk this one from 46 feet at Hero World Challenge. That’s how you make up some ground, Matthew.
Things have slowed up a bit on the back nine, groups waiting on tees etc. Scheffler is three shots clear and has just played his tee shot on 15. Finds the fairway, another one.
As well as Scheffler has played, he’s not shaken off Tony Finau (-13) – and now Matt Fitzpatrick is back in the mix after making an eagle at the par-5 15th. The former US Open champ sits three back on -12.
More from Woods. He says, “I still have game, it’s whether or not the body can do it.”
Good to hear. Woods says the way his body has held up so far this week has surprised him.
Scottie’s 15-foot putt on the 11th looks like it’s going to pull up short, but it just drops – and he’s now three clear of Tony Finau. This is a very impressive round from Scheffler, who doesn’t look like making any mistakes at the moment.
Bit of a jumpy lie coming in from the rough on 18 – and jump it did. Another chance to witness his short-game prowess. He’s through the back, takes a free drop because he’s up against the stand. Uses the contours, very good. About 6 feet left for par. Misses it. Shame. It’s a 71. Plenty of positives again.
With our focus on Tiger Woods, we’ve failed to mention Jason Day today. The former world number one has moved into contention courtesy of six birdies through 14 holes. The Aussie is just four back. Woods, meanwhile, plays a delightful little mid iron along the ground. Great to see. It almost looks like a mis-strike but it’s because we’re so used to seeing loft around the greens.
Woods somehow gets that up and down from through the back of the 16th, great putt. Hovland has the honor on the par-3 17th; he fires a dart at the pin. What does Tiger have in store for us? Pulls out the 8-iron. Great strike, right at it, but bounces just through the green. A little bit of work to do here.
Someone’s been practising in their backyard.
Eeeeew, that’s a bad one – long through 16. That ball was travelling. Quite where that’s ended up, we’re not so sure…. he looks a little frustrated at the moment, does Tiger. The good news is he’s still walking well.
Another bomb from Tiger on 16. Driving isn’t the problem, nor is the short game. The question at this moment in time is whether he can play enough in 2024 to get sharper on the greens. Anyway, let’s enjoy his last 21 holes here in The Bahamas before talking more about that. 212 yards left into the par-4 16th…
Just the five under through nine holes, and Scottie Scheffler heads into the back nine with a three-shot lead. Masterclass.
Hates this hole. Hates it. Misses a 3-footer. A par on that hole is really a bogey. He’s lost a lot of ground on the par-5 15th this week, which isn’t like him. We keep saying it, though…. RUST.
Scheffler does have a three-shot lead, but right behind him are Messrs Finau, Fitzpatrick, Morikawa and Spieth. Even if he had peak Woods in his slipstream, he wouldn’t be fazed. This guy is absolutely striping it right now.
Woods with another classy bunker shot. Inches it’s way down to the hole and he tidies up from 3 feet.
Woods with a decent drive on the drivable 14th, finds the greenside bunker. It should be an easy enough up-and-down from there. Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler goes three clear with a birdie on seven – that one from about 15 feet. A case of catch me if you can…
It’s like watching a robot. Scheffler makes birdie on the par-5 6th with a routine up-and-down from just off the front of the green. The world number one just keeps his foot on the accelerator. He could show the field a clean pair of heels the way he’s playing.
Woods’ first putt on 12 came up six feet short. Had to go to work on that one. Doesn’t look ecstatic, but he drains it. Stays  -1 for the day.
Hard to criticise anyone at this time of the year; it’s been a long year and with Christmas just around the corner, there’s bound to be a bit of fatigue playing a part. Viktor is having a rare off week, unspectacular you might say. The Norwegian star is +1 and only has two players behind him – Wyndham Clark at +3 and Will Zalatoris at +10.
Woods normally devours par 5s, but he’s had his problems on the long ones this week. The third shot was to blame, going long from 98 yards and he really had no shot from there. Two putts after chipping on. Back to level.
Yesterday he put on a clinic, but today Spieth is having one of those days where you just don’t know where his ball is going next. He’s is the native area/sand on the par-3 5th after a real wide. His second shot is delightful. Par. Pure Spieth.
Well, you can’t drive every par 5. Woods finds the rough off the tee, but his layup is absolutely fine. He has 98 yards to give with his third, came out hot and he’s gone long. More short-game heroics needed….
POETRY IN MOTION.
AN OMINOUS SIGN. Scottie Scheffler has eagled the par-5 3rd. He’s two clear.
Not the sort of position you want to be facing when you’re making your comeback from injury; very awkward stance in the rough on 10. Plays a pretty good shot, finding the green from about 140. No signs of pain there, although he did appear to apply a bit of ointment to his knee after a few holes. Now for the putt… leaves that one a few feet short but should tidy up there without any problems. Onto 11…
Zalatoris is the only player over par (+3) at the moment. We say that not to pick on the young man, who’s making a return from injury, but to emphasise how easy the course is playing for these guys right now, like shelling peas.
After that bogey-bogey start, Woods has rattled off four birdies to turn in 34. Now, can we please back it up with something under par coming home?
I thought he’d popped for a toilet break, but no, he’s in trouble. More on the leader’s troubles in a second. Meanwhile, Tiger plays an audacious bunker shot on 9, flirting with leaving it in the bunker, the ball dying just over the lip and rolling out a few feet short. How has it left it there? Superb touch. Brave. Nothing wrong with the short game.
Woods smokes another drive down 9, leaving himself 291 yards for his second. Can he take advantage on another par 5? He’s taken care of the two that he’s played so far, but he hasn’t played them too well during the week as a whole, especially the 15th. Let’s not focus on that hole and the putt into a bunker that happened yesterday. Back to Tiger… looking to play a big cut. Didn’t quite happen there, come out fairly straight. Greenside bunker and not a lot of green to play with. I much prefer it when the great man is faced with a proper challenge around the greens, one of the greatest sights in the game.
-9 Scheffler, SpiethÂ
-8 Harman, Finau, Morikawa
We make no apologies for focusing on Tiger Woods this week. It is, after all, his tournament, and he’s playing competitively for the first time in seven months. We’ll bring you updates throughout the day. The leaders have just putted out on the 2nd. More updates on those guys later….It’s good to see The Open champion mixing it up at the top of the leaderboard. Harman is level through two and just one shot off the leaders.
And now we’re under par. The putt was closer to four feet. That putt will please him as much as the tee shot because he’s missed a few of those. -1 for the day and even par for the tournament.So, round 1, 75, round 2, 70…. today has to be a 65, right?
That’s a peach. Silence as that ball is in the air and then applause as it lands like a stone a couple of feet from the pin. Best iron shot of the day from Woods on the par-3 8th.
Tiger unable to take advantage of the drivable 7th, walks off with a par. He might not win this week but he’ll be keen to get under par and finish the week with a couple of rounds in the 60s.
Early moves from Finau (-8) and Morikawa (-7). The big move, though, has come from  Bradley who has made five birdies through eight holes.
Tiger makes his first par of the day on four. Two putts safely enough from roughly 50ft.
Tiger stops the
