Scottie Scheffler is one round away from capping off this astonishing season with a FedEx Cup title and its $25 million prize.
Scheffler had four birdies over his last five holes Saturday for a 5-under 66 to extend his lead to five shots over Collin Morikawa in the Tour Championship at East Lake.
He also knows the work is not done. The task for Scheffler is simple.
“Keep doing what I’ve been doing, staying in the moment, staying patient out there,” Scheffler said. I’ve bogeyed the first hole two of the last three days, and both times when I bogeyed the first hole I didn’t make any bogeys after that. So that’s kind of good momentum for me.”
It was even better moment at the end, with Morikawa (67) staying on his heels. Morikawa birdied three of his last four holes, but still ended up falling one more shot behind than the four-shot deficit he faced at the start of the third round.
Scheffler, who started at 10-under par and with a two-shot lead — six shots ahead of Morikawa, the No. 7 seed — was at 26-under par.
No one else was closer than nine shots.
LPGA
Ko leads in Boston after Ryu falls apart
Jin Young Ko took advantage of an early collapse by Haeran Ryu and turned her own bad break into a birdie for a 5-under 67 that took her from a six-shot deficit to a two-shot lead over Lauren Coughlin in the FM Championship.
Ryu was coming off a career-best 62 on the TPC Boston that staked the 23-year-old from South Korea to a six-shot lead going into the weekend of the $3.8 million event.
It was gone in a matter of six holes.
Ryu took double bogey on the first and fourth holes, both typically tame on the Gil Hanse design, and then dropped another shot on the tough par-4 sixth. By then, she was one shot behind and never quite caught up.
NASCAR
Bell holds off Custer for win at Darlington
Christopher Bell took the lead one final time coming out of the pits with four laps remaining and held off Cole Custer on an overtime restart to win the Xfinity Series event at Darlington Raceway.
Bell, the NASCAR Cup Series regular who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, had the most dominant car the entire race, leading 103 of the first 137 laps.
But Sheldon Creed swept past him low in turn two with eight laps remaining and began to pull away from Bell until the sixth caution came out on lap 142.
NHL
Gaudreau’s wife posts tribute to ‘best dad’
The widow of Johnny Gaudreau called her husband “the absolute best dad in the world” and thanked him for “the best years of my life” in two Instagram posts paying tribute to the NHL player who was killed when his bicycle was struck by a car on the eve of his sister’s wedding.
“Despite losing you, I am still the luckiest girl in the world to have been yours,” Meredith Gaudreau wrote.
A separate post included photos of Johnny Gaudreau with their children.
“The absolute best dad in the world,” she said.
Gaudreau and his younger brother, Matt, were killed Thursday night when they were struck by a suspected drunken driver while they were riding bikes in Oldmans Township, close to their southern New Jersey hometown of Carneys Point.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
NCAA nixes Okla. St. helmet stickers
The NCAA blocked Oklahoma State from placing QR codes on its players’ helmets, a move that would have allowed fans to link to a team fund and donate to the program’s name, image and likeness money pool, the school announced before Saturday’s game against South Dakota State.
“Oklahoma State interprets the QR code stickers as institutional decals permitted under NCAA bylaws,” the university said in a news release. “The NCAA interprets the QR code stickers as advertising and/or commercial marks, which are not permitted.”
The QR codes will not appear on the Cowboys’ helmets, but they will be placed in larger and more prominent locations throughout Boone Pickens Stadium, according to the news release.
NFL
49ers WR Pearsall shot during attempted robbery
49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was shot in the chest Saturday during an attempted robbery in central San Francisco, officials said, and he was reported to be in serious but stable condition.
Mayor London Breed said in a post on the social platform X that Pearsall was shot in Union Square, which is a downtown shopping and theater district home to a popular public square of the same name.
San Francisco police said in a statement that Pearsall was injured while being robbed in the area of Geary Street and Grant Avenue, and so was the suspect. Both were taken to the hospital, the statement said.
The 49ers issued a statement saying Pearsall was hit by a bullet in the chest and gave his condition as serious but stable.
BASEBALL
Saints fall to Storm Chasers’ big night
The Saints struggled against the Storm Chasers all the way through to the 9-1 loss Saturday night on the road.
St. Paul’s lone run came from Patrick Winkel in the fifth inning, a homer to center field.
Starter and Burnsville native Aaron Rozek (0-5) allowed four runs on nine hits, all of them earned.
The Storm Chasers’ starter and Royals No. 14 ranked prospect Noah Cameron (2-1) allowed one run on five hits and struck out 10 over his seven innings. Omaha shortstop Cam Devanney also had a career-high night with three doubles and six RBI among his four hits.
BRIEFLY
INDYCAR >> Mexican driver Pato O’Ward said that NASCAR’s new Mexico City deal has boxed IndyCar out of the market, saying “I strongly believe that there isn’t more room in Mexico City.”
NHL >> The Carolina Hurricanes have signed forward Seth Jarvis to an eight-year, $63.2 million contract.
— From news services