Australian golfer Jason Day produced a five-under 65 within the third spherical of the St. Jude Championship to all however guarantee his qualification for subsequent week’s BMW Championship.
The previous world No. 1 shot 5 birdies on entrance 9 earlier than ending his afternoon with a bogey on Gap 9, ending the day tied sixteenth on the general standings.
Day’s efficiency was bettered solely by Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, who produced an impressive spherical of 64 to open up a five-stroke lead heading into Sunday’s closing spherical.
Elsewhere, fellow Australian Adam Scott shot a two-under 68 to climb to tied twenty fifth in Memphis, additionally ending his day with a bogey on the ultimate gap.
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Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters winner, is on 17-under for the match with 20-year-old American Nick Dunlap 5 photographs again and Norway’s Victor Hovland on 11-under.
The occasion is the opening of the three FedEx Cup playoff tournaments and present Cup standings chief Scottie Scheffler, who shot 69, is tied for fourth with fellow American Sam Burns, each seven strokes behind Matsuyama.
Matsuyama’s spherical received off to an eventful begin with a birdie on the par-4 first and a bogey on the par-4 second earlier than an eagle on the par-5 third set him on his manner.
The 32-year-old was excellent on the inexperienced as he made 4 extra birdies to open up his lead.
Matsuyama stated his resolution to vary putters had paid off for him.
“I did put a brand new putter within the bag, and it has been behaving very effectively. I’ve had the putter for some time, and I believed, effectively, it is perhaps a great week to debut that putter. However I would change putters tonight even,” he stated.
The Japanese, in search of his tenth win on the PGA Tour and his second this season after profitable on the Genesis Invitational in February, can be cautious of the lurking Scheffler, nevertheless.
Reigning Masters champion Scheffler, contemporary off his Olympic gold medal in Paris, believes he stays in rivalry.
“Going into tomorrow, I’ll do what I can to place some stress on Hideki, but when he goes out tomorrow and shoots one other 5-, 6-under, he’s going to be a fairly powerful man to catch. However I’m undoubtedly not completely out of the match,” he stated.
Hovland, seeking to defend his FedEx Cup title, is in the same state of affairs and was vastly impressed with the best way Matsuyama carried out on a course that’s difficult.
“It’s tremendous spectacular stuff. It was not simple on the market at present,” he stated.
“It was an honest quantity of wind and it appears like fairways are firming up a bit bit, tougher to hit the fairways, and with a few of these pin places being tucked fairly near the sides, it’s onerous to be fairly aggressive into a few of these flags.
“He’s clearly making it work and I sort of tried to play simply cheap and never secure however simply good technique the entire manner. I didn’t make that many putts. If I’d have gotten my putter going like I did yesterday, most likely would have been a really related rating.”
It was one other disappointing day for Rory McIlroy, who shot a four-over 74 after beginning on the again 9 and making double bogeys on the twelfth and the thirteenth.
McIlroy is five-over for the match, though he can at the very least look down the leaderboard at one other former main champion, Jordan Spieth, whose 74 left him in penultimate place on seven-over.
The 70-strong area within the playoffs can be lower to 50 for subsequent week’s BMW Championship at Fort Rock, Colorado after which slimmed down additional to 30 for the ultimate occasion, the Tour Championship in Atlanta beginning on August 29.
Australians Min Woo Lee and Cam Davis are liable to lacking the cut-off after taking pictures 70 and 71 throughout Saturday’s third spherical.
Lee hit a double-bogey on Gap 15 however recovered to complete the spherical on par, whereas Davis discovered himself on the again foot early after taking pictures a double bogey on his first gap of the day.
LEADERBOARD
193 – Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 65-64-64
198 – Nick Dunlap 67-65-66
199 – Viktor Hovland (NOR) 70-63-66
200 – Scottie Scheffler 66-65-69, Sam Burns 67-63-70
201 – Will Zalatoris 69-65-67, Denny McCarthy 66-63-72
202 – Xander Schauffele 66-69-67
203 – Billy Horschel 68-65-70, Tony Finau 69-66-68, Akshay Bhatia 69-68-66, Justin Rose (ENG) 66-66-71, Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG) 70-65-68, Robert MacIntyre (SCO) 67-66-70, Seamus Energy (IRL) 67-70-66
204 – Jason Day (AUS) 72-67-65, Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) 66-70-68, Brendon Todd 66-69-69, Wyndham Clark 68-69-67