Get the Signature Scroll – and the rest of PGA TOUR's newsletters, including The Connect, Wire to Wire and The Early Card – directly in your inbox. Subscribe today!

We’re set up for an intriguing final round at Harbour Town. … Let’s talk about it …

Scheffler's answer

After last week, Scottie Scheffler’s place atop the sport felt in question for the first time in a long time.

Rory McIlroy’s victory at the Masters sparked debate around just how much of a gap there really was between the top two players in the world. The stats would still say there’s a notable one, and that Scheffler remains the marker the rest of pro golf is chasing. The Official World Golf Ranking would concur. But these debates aren’t settled with just numbers, and McIlroy’s inspired Masters performance instilled more than a little doubt in the discussion.

Within days, Scheffler could generate an emphatic answer. The 2024 RBC Heritage champion flew up the leaderboard on Saturday, firing a 7-under 64 to snag a spot in the final pairing alongside Matt Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick looked vulnerable early on Saturday, bogeying three of his first seven holes. That corresponded with Scheffler’s charge, which briefly led to an air of inevitability over this tournament. There still might be, but Fitzpatrick delayed its arrival with a back-nine 31 to take a three-stroke lead over Scheffler into the final round.

Scheffler noted it would be difficult to catch Fitzpatrick, but he’s got the right formula. The world No. 1 has just three bogeys in his last five competitive rounds and amassed the best ball-striking day of his tournament on Saturday. He’s built on last week’s success from tee-to-green, which marks a return to Scheffler’s normal elite characteristics that briefly went missing earlier this spring.

There’s a lot more to be said about Scheffler if he gets it done. We’ll save that for Sunday night.

Playing through

• 📺 Need to catch up? Full Round 3 highlights here …
• 🏌️ Scottie Scheffler surges up the leaderboard on Moving Day with a 7-under 64. See how this sets up his Sunday pairing with another past champion ...
• ❓ What big questions emerged from the Masters? I went through five on the top of my mind …

What’s up with Finau?

When you’re not playing well, it’s relatively easy to hide on a crowded leaderboard. Unless, of course, you create the type of unwanted separation that Tony Finau has amassed so far this week.

The American shot his third consecutive 75 of the tournament on Saturday to fall into last place by four strokes. That’s a lonely place to be with nowhere to hide.

It’s Finau’s worst performance of the year, which was turbulent before he even showed up to Hilton Head. At No. 110 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Finau hasn’t been that low since 2015. It’s now more than a year since he last notched a top-10 finish (2025 The Genesis Invitational), and he failed to qualify for the Masters for the first time since 2017.

So what’s going on?

In short, the most reliable part of his game – iron play – has become average, and his once prolific distance advantage is now almost entirely neutralized. The result is his worst statistical run of form since he was on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2014. That may sound hyperbolic, but according to our friends at Data Golf, it’s true. Finau’s rolling 50-round statistical profile has not been this poor at any point since he earned his PGA TOUR card. That coincides directly with his worst run of form off the tee of his entire career. The 37-year-old spent much of the last decade as a poster boy of consistency, even if he didn’t win as much as many expected. But since last August, Finau has been below average off the tee. While he was once outdriving the average TOUR pro by nearly 20 yards, he now only holds a meager two-yard advantage over the run-of-the-mill pro. Combine that with one of the most inaccurate seasons of his career, and suddenly, the lack of results makes sense. His week at Hilton Head has been bad across the board. He’s lost a staggering 10 shots on approach, by far the worst in the field, while also ranking in the bottom 10 off the tee and on the greens.

This week is beyond saving. Is Finau’s season? What about his career? A few years shy of 40, Finau still has multiple years of what’s often considered a golfer’s “prime.” He possesses enough raw talent to believe he can turn it around, but concerns will only grow louder with more weeks like this.

Parting shots

• 🇸🇪 Another Sunday, another chance for Ludvig Åberg to answer questions about his ability to close. He’s 12-under, five shots back. Åberg has entered the final round inside the top 10 on six occasions dating back to last year’s Masters. He’s improved his position on the leaderboard just once in those six final rounds.
• 🔄 Roles reversed … Last week, Jordan Spieth bemoaned his putter, which he felt kept him from a real chance at contending in Augusta. This week, it’s the only club that’s working. Spieth is third in putting at Harbour Town and outside the top 50 in driving, approach play and around the green.
• 🇿🇦 The results have been few and far between, but I continue to believe Aldrich Potgieter is taking small steps toward rounding out his game. His poor performance at Augusta National was disappointing, but Potgieter’s long-hitting game has traveled well to a variety of other tests this year. He played well at The Riviera Country Club and now this week at Harbour Town, where he’s 12-under with only three bogeys this week. Neither course is a traditional fit for his playstyle, and it gives me optimism that we are seeing improvement, with his approach play and around-the-green skills, in particular.
• 🤔 An incredibly anecdotal take based on watching a lot of golf this week: It seems harder than ever to make mid-range putts at Harbour Town. Davis Love III re-did all 18 greens ahead of this tournament, and while most are very similar to their previous versions, there were many subtle tweaks. Some have commented that there’s more break than before, while others have said there’s less grain than normal. Whatever it is, it’s no easy task.