Scottie Scheffler will take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Sunday, the world No. 1's first 54-hole advantage in a full year as he chases his first PGA Tour victory since January. Scheffler shot a three-under 68 on Saturday at TPC Southwind in Memphis to reach 13-under 197 through three rounds, opening the first FedExCup Playoffs event of the postseason.
Sam Burns produced the round of the day, a bogey-free eight-under 62 that briefly pulled him level with Scheffler before a closing par left him tied for second at 11-under alongside Sungjae Im, who shot 67. Tommy Fleetwood and Jake Knapp sit four back at eight-under, with roughly a dozen players within five shots of the lead heading into Sunday's final round.
Burns Surges, McIlroy Fades
Burns' third-round 62 nearly matched the TPC Southwind course record and came a day after he had managed only a 70. The turnaround started early.
I didn't hit the water on 3 today, so that's pretty helpful.
Sam Burns
He and Scheffler, close friends on tour, are set to play in Sunday's final pairing together for the first time. Not every contender is trending the right direction: defending FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy has yet to break par all week, sitting at six-over and tied for 67th after a double bogey on the 18th hole Saturday when his tee shot found the water.
Scheffler's pursuit of a fifth win of the season, and his first since the American Express in January, has been defined by proximity rather than victory: five runner-up finishes and nine top-five results during the drought. His second-round 61 set a course record at TPC Southwind and built the cushion he protected Saturday with three back-nine birdies. Even with the winless stretch, Scheffler has spent most of the year atop the world rankings, and a Memphis title would reassert his status entering the two-week playoff sprint to East Lake.
Playoff Stakes and a Late Caddie Swap
The St. Jude Championship, which carries a $20 million purse, is the first of three events in the FedExCup Playoffs, with the 70-man field trimmed to 50 for next week's BMW Championship and to 30 for the season-ending Tour Championship, where the winner claims a $10 million bonus on top of the FedExCup title. Sunday's round carries added weight for players hovering near the cutline: Jordan Spieth slipped to roughly 52nd in the standings after a one-over 72, while Maverick McNealy and Keith Mitchell sit near 50th and need strong closing rounds to keep their seasons alive. A finish outside the top 50 this week would end a season two events early, regardless of a player's earlier results.
Scheffler will play the final round without his longtime caddie, Ted Scott, who left Memphis for a family matter. Brad Payne, a PGA Tour chaplain who has filled in for Scheffler once before, during the third round of the 2024 PGA Championship, will carry the bag Sunday. Scott has been on the bag for all 17 of Scheffler's Tour victories since 2021.
A win Sunday would end Scheffler's longest victory drought since he established himself as the Tour's dominant player and would add the 750 FedExCup points available at TPC Southwind to his lead in the season standings heading into the next two playoff legs. Burns, one of the tour's most consistent performers in 2026 without a win to show for it, and Im, seeking his first title since 2023, represent the closest challenges on a leaderboard that tightened considerably over the weekend.
Final-round tee times begin Sunday afternoon at TPC Southwind, with Scheffler and Burns, in the day's last pairing, expected off last.
