Scottie Scheffler produced a surprising late birdie burst to capitalise on a mid-round wobble from Ben Griffin and take a one-shot lead into the ultimate spherical of the Memorial Event.
The world No 1, who opened with 13 consecutive pars on Saturday, birdied 4 of his 5 holes to put up a four-under 68 and card his first bogey-free spherical ever at Muirfield Village.
The quick end lifted Scheffler to eight beneath and one forward of midway co-leader Griffin, with the FedExCup chief now in prime place to observe his PGA Championship success with a 3rd PGA Tour win in 4 begins.
Scottie Scheffler is seeking to turn out to be a back-to-back winner of the Memorial Event
Scheffler will play within the ultimate spherical alongside Griffin, who briefly went 5 strokes forward earlier than 4 consecutive bogeys across the flip and a dropped shot on the final left him settling for a level-par 72.
Canada’s Nick Taylor is three strokes again in third spot on 5 beneath, with Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley an additional two pictures adrift in a share of fourth place with Jordan Spieth and Sepp Straka.
How Scheffler edged forward at Muirfield Village
Griffin made his cost when he adopted a 15-foot birdie on the sixth by profiting from the par-five subsequent and choosing up one other shot on the par-three eighth, taking him to 10 beneath, solely to see his fortunes drastically change with 4 consecutive bogeys from the ninth.
The American reclaimed his benefit after holing from 10 toes on the 14th and including one other birdie on the subsequent, however Scheffler – enjoying within the group forward – additionally made birdies on the identical two holes.
Ben Griffin has already received twice on the PGA Tour this season
Scheffler made putts from eight toes and 15 toes to supply a birdie-birdie end and set the clubhouse goal, with the three-time main champion then claiming the outright lead when Griffin missed from three toes to save lots of par on the final.
“Round this golf course even par, I feel, at present would have been a reasonably stable rating,” mentioned Scheffler, seeking to defend his title after final 12 months’s victory. “I felt like I may have gotten just a little bit extra out of the spherical, however I felt like I used to be enjoying good.
Scheffler carded 4 birdies in a bogey-free third spherical
“Only a couple lips right here and there would have modified the rating just a little bit, however general, I felt like I used to be doing great things. I did not really feel like I wanted to alter a lot.”
Taylor instantly misplaced his lead after a bogey-bogey begin and was 5 over for his spherical till an eagle-birdie burst on his again 9, lifting him to 5 beneath, whereas Straka fired a round-of-the-day 66 to leap inside 5 of the lead as he bids for a 3rd win of the season.
Rickie Fowler, Patrick Cantlay and Shane Lowry share seventh on two beneath, whereas Justin Rose’s title problem ended after he undid his second-round 66 with an eight-over 80 on Saturday.
Who will win the Memorial Event? Watch early protection of the ultimate spherical on Sunday from 4.30pm on Sky Sports activities Golf forward of full protection from 6pm. Not acquired Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with NOW.
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