Scottie Scheffler equipped with the one thing he’s been lacking – a head start

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has done a lot of chasing this year.

If there’s been an Achilles heel in the best player on the planet, it has been tied to his slow starts. Scheffler has often lamented his opening-round stumbles, which put him behind the 8-ball with more frequency than he would prefer. Weekend rallies have fallen short, and he’s missed out by thin margins multiple times while going winless since his season-opening victory in January.

That could change on Sunday at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, where Scheffler adds another weapon to his growing arsenal: a 54-hole lead.

Scheffler started the day three shots clear of the pack at TPC Southwind, and while it wasn’t exactly easy – he was tied at the top on multiple occasions – a trio of back-nine birdies along with some timely par saves ensured that Scheffler held the pole position heading into the final round, two shots clear of Sam Burns and Sungjae Im.

Remarkably, this is Scheffler’s first 54-hole lead of the year – and his first since The Open Championship last summer when he lifted the claret jug at Royal Birkdale. Speaking to the media after the third round, Scheffler himself had to take a moment to try to recall the last time he began a final round with a lead.

“Strategy is still the same. Just go out there and execute,” said Scheffler, who signed for a 2-under 68 to move to 13-under for the week. “This is a golf course where that’s all it really comes down to. I’ll just do my best to go out there tomorrow and be committed and try and execute.”

Scheffler will have a familiar face alongside him in the final pairing, as Burns made the biggest move of the day with an 8-under 62 that was one shot off the course record. The friendship between the two is well-documented, and Burns has had his own share of close calls this year, notably at the U.S. Open and The Open.

Now he’ll have to go through one of his best friends on TOUR in order to get his first win since 2023.

“Scottie is obviously playing great, as he always does,” Burns said. “He’s not going to lay down. He’s going to play great tomorrow. So you’re going to have to go out there and put a really good round together and see if you can catch him.”

Im is alongside Burns at 11-under, two shots behind Scheffler, but no one else will begin the final round better than 8-under. It’ll take a mammoth rally for anyone but those three players to lift the trophy. It’s a task made all the more difficult given the name at the top, with Scheffler within reach of another win amid a season that has been defined by statistical success but a surprising lack of hardware.

“He’s only had one win this year, so he’s kind of off,” Tom Kim joked after a third-round 63. “I think he’s probably the best No. 1 in the world that we’ve had in a while. No one’s been this dominant for this long. He works so hard, so he deserves everything.”

Scheffler didn’t make it look as elementary as he did the day prior with a record-tying 61, playing his first seven holes Saturday in 1-over. But the putter delivered just when he needed it, as Scheffler finished the day third in Strokes Gained: Putting after pacing the field in the category Friday.

“Any time you’re holing those kind of 10- to 15-footers, it’s really nice to keep the round going,” Scheffler said. “I holed a few of those today. It was definitely important to keep the momentum in the round going.”

It’s a testament to Scheffler’s dominant form that he’s still very much in the Player of the Year race with only one win to date. A skill set that delivered trophies by the handful over the last two years hasn’t exactly diminished.

But now he has his best opportunity in almost a year to add to his collection, cement the top spot in the FedExCup rankings heading into the TOUR Championship and remind everyone that the Player of the Year race still goes through the man that won the Jack Nicklaus Award each of the last four years.

Ball-striking, iron play, putting, short game. All the pieces have been in place for Scheffler for months. Now he’ll tee off in Memphis equipped with the one thing he had been missing: a head start.