Scottie Scheffler has gotten comfortable this weekend at the Procure Championship.
While Ben Griffin shot a mostly steady 2-under-par 70 to maintain the lead through the third round of the Procure Championship, much of the buzz is about the hard-charging Scheffler as he climbed the leaderboard Saturday at Napa, Calif.
Griffin produced a clean round until a bogey on the last hole to go into Sunday with a one-shot advantage on amateur Jackson Koivun, an Auburn University golfer, on Silverado Resort’s North Course. Koivun shot 68.
Griffin is at 16-under 200. Scheffler shot 64 to move to 14 under.
“There’s definitely some tricks to this golf course, things you’ve got to get used to,” Scheffler said. “And there are things that are hard to notice, I think, in the practice rounds. But when you start playing under tournament conditions, you start seeing a little of those nuances within the golf course.”
The opening event in the PGA Tour’s fall tournament schedule is stocked with U.S. Ryder Cup golfers in their final competitive tune-up before that event in less than two weeks.
“I’ve got to have that chasing mindset as a leader because I know all those guys behind me are going to stay aggressive and I’ve got to do everything I can to stay in front,” Griffin said of his mindset for the final round.
Scheffler’s effort marked the best score of the round, moving up from 14th place at the beginning of the day. He racked up 10 birdies — five on each side — but a double-bogey on the par-4 14th hole that included a misfired chip into a sand trap was costly.
“Really just had the hiccup on 14,” Scheffler said. “But other than that, played a pretty good day.”
He responded with birdies on three of the final four holes.
Griffin’s lone bump came on the par-5 final hole. He was generally content with the round.
“It actually felt pretty similar (to the first two days), just on the greens I didn’t convert as many putts,” Griffin said. “But hitting it really solid, gave myself a lot of birdie looks out there.”
Koivun responded from two early bogeys, boosted by a five-hole stretch at 5 under that included an eagle on the par-5 12th.
“I think learning and confidence for me go hand in hand,” said Koivun, the world’s No. 1 amateur. “The more I learn, the more confident I get. I think as I learn more, I’m just going to be more confident out here.”
South Africa’s Garrick Higgo (66) is in fourth place at 13 under. Austin Eckroat (68), Lanto Griffin, Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes (69) and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (69) are all at 10 under.
Behind Scheffler, Higgo and Troy Merritt had the day’s second-best round with 66. Merritt’s strong third round puts him at 7 under for the tournament.
–Field Level Media
