Saturday, May 29, 2021. 6:13 PM
FORT WORTH, Texas – Jordan Spieth saved the day on his final hole and finished the third round of the Charles Schwab Challenge in the lead on Saturday where he started it.
After sending his tee shot into the long grass to the right of the fairway at the 18th hole, Spieth recovered by sending his ball eight feet from the cup. He then put the finishing touches with a birdie to take the top spot on his own, a blow in front of his playing partner Jason Kokrak.
Spieth handed in a second straight 66 (minus-4) card to settle at minus-15 after three rounds. Kokrak caught up with him with a four-bird six-hole streak, but the crowd favorite Spieth made sure to take advantage of a shot ahead of his compatriot at the start of the final round.
Kokrak also played 66.
This is the fourth time Spieth has led after 54 strokes this season on the PGA Tour, after 11 tournaments. He managed to win once under such circumstances this year, when he triumphed for the first time since 2017, at the Valero Texas Open.
Sergio Garcia (68), who was 21 when he scored his first win at the Challenge Charles Schwab 20 years ago, took third place alone at minus-10. The Spaniard committed only one bug.
Ian Poulter played the best round of the day at 64, which saw him move up 26 spots in the leaders’ standings. He notably had a streak of four birdies during a streak of five holes in his first nine.
Poulter finished Saturday tied with Sebastian Munoz (70) for fourth at minus-8.
Erik Compton (70), Brendon Todd (67) and Patton Kizzire (71) finished the day at minus-7.
After playing 67 on Friday, Canada’s Corey Conners handed in a 68 card to climb eight places in the standings. He will start the final round at minus-5.
His compatriot Nick Taylor slipped to 34th place at minus-2. He had a particularly difficult start to the round, committing three bogeys on his first nine holes, without a birdie success. He still managed to save the day with three birdies in the return nine, but he made an additional bug.
Spieth and Kokrak will start together in the last group on Sunday.
