Scottie Scheffler makes late double but still moves into share of Houston lead

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler carded a 66 to move into a five-way tie for the lead on day three of the Texas Children's Houston Open.

Andy Roberts

31 Mar 2024

Scottie Scheffler makes late double but still moves into share of Houston lead — Scottie Scheffler makes late double but still moves into share of Houston…

Scottie Scheffler recovered from a late double-bogey with consecutive birdies on 16 and 17 to move into a five-way tie for the lead at the Texas Children's Houston Open.

Scheffler, 27, carded a 4-under 66 in the third round at Memorial Park.

The runaway World No.1 finds himself at 9-under par for the tournament in a tie for the lead with David Skinns, Stephan Jaeger, Thomas Detry and Alejandro Tosti.

Tosti gets into frosty exchange with Finau at Houston Open

Nick Dunlap fired a brilliant 63 to move within a shot of the lead alongside Taylor Moore and Akshay Bhatia.

Overnight leader and defending champion Tony Finau slumped to a round of 2-over 72 to fall two shots off the pace on 7-under par.

Aaron Rai, Chad Ramey and Max Greyserman are also on that score.

VIEW FULL SCORES HERE

"What are you gonna do?"
Scottie Scheffler was at a loss for words after his tee shot at No. 15. pic.twitter.com/Rj8efsKW8r
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 30, 2024

Scheffler found the water with his tee shot at the par-3 15th.

The American fired his iron shot to within 10 feet of the pin but the spin took his ball off the green and down into a watery grave.

He quickly got those two dropped shots back with birdies at 16 and 17 and that pulled him back into a tie for the lead.

Scottie Scheffler enters Sunday with the co-lead @TCHouOpen, eyeing his third consecutive victory. pic.twitter.com/J80a2pb8LF
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 30, 2024

Scheffler was proud of the way he fought back after his double-bogey five on 15.

He sent a beautiful 4-iron into the heart of the green surrounded by water at the par-5 16th for a simple two-putt birdie.

Scheffler then hit one of the shots of the day when sending an iron into five feet at the par-4 17th for another birdie.

He said after the round:

"I'm proud of how I bounced back there. I hit a really great shot into 16, that's one that may be understated on the scorecard or on the coverage. That was a really hard shot that I had. I hit just nearly a perfect 4-iron to get a good look there for eagle. Hit a good putt that didn't go in, but really proud of how I bounced back."

Scheffler will now attempt to become the first player since Dustin Johnson in 2017 to win three straight events on the PGA Tour.

He will also look to become the first player to win three straight strokeplay tournaments on the PGA Tour since Rory McIlroy in 2014.

Scheffler successfully defended the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship in his last two starts.

A ninth career victory on Sunday would also mark Scheffler's first in his home state.

Will Scheffler make it three wins on the bounce at the Houston Open? Is he going to win a second Masters title in two weeks' time? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels.

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