ST. LOUIS — Whatever momentum Scottie Scheffler collected around the turn at Bellerive Country Club on Saturday didn’t fully matriculate on a back nine that saw the world’s top-ranked player card an even 35.
Two birdies, two bogeys, a few par saves. And a few birdie putts that ran just short of the hole.
Some movement up the leaderboard but nowhere near enough to catch 36-hole leader Wyndham Clark, who sits 11 shots ahead of Scheffler while playing his back nine.
Scheffler expressed confidence that he was still in contention at the BMW Championship on Friday after putting together a 65, while confirming reports he was feeling sick — but needed a strong weekend performance to fulfill such expectations.
Saturday’s front-nine 33 was an improvement from his second round start that opened with a bogey at the par-4 first hole. It was the back nine that proved to be the difference maker.
Unlike his electric, bogey-free Friday performance on the final nine holes that saw him head into the clubhouse six shots off the lead, Scheffler found bunkers and other challenges throughout his third round closing stretch at Bellerive.
He bogeyed two par-4s, the No. 12 and No. 15 — two holes that have caused him a bit of stress this week, albeit not costing him any strokes on the field until Moving Day.
The start of the tournament was far from memorable for Scheffler, who got in with an opening round 72 just four days after completing an eight-shot victory over the field in Memphis.
Saturday proved to be the middle of the three rounds in terms of scoring but echoed the earlier performance in that trouble was found more often than it was avoided.
Nonetheless, Scheffler sits inside the tournament’s top 20 (T-16 as of 4 p.m. ET). If it holds on Sunday, it would be the 18th this season for the world No. 1, who could still plausibly get inside the top 10.
He’s done that an absurd 12 times already in 2026.
