World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler strikes again.
The Masters winner fired a low-round 8-under-par 63 to shoot into the lead by a stroke at the RBC Heritage on Saturday at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
Scheffler was tied for 10th entering the third round.
Scheffler sits at 16-under 197, one stroke ahead of Sepp Straka (third-round 67). Collin Morikawa, who played with Scheffler in the final Masters pairing at Augusta, Georgia, last week, is third at 14 under after a 68.
The 54-hole lead is Scheffler's fifth this season, tops on the PGA Tour. It's also his 12th career lead after three rounds, most of any player since he joined the tour in 2019-20.
He is gunning for his fourth victory in his past five tournaments played. Scheffler is also trying to become the first player since Tiger Woods in 2006 to follow up a major win with a victory on tour the following week.
"I think when I'm playing my best, sometimes it feels like I'm competing against myself a little bit out there, trying to keep pushing and stay as focused as I can," Scheffler said about his hot streak.
With a win, Scheffler would join Bernhard Langer (1985) as the only players to win the Masters and RBC Heritage in back-to-back weeks.
"At the end of the day, we're out here competing against the best players in the world," he said after his round Saturday.
"I love competing against these guys, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of coming out and competing tomorrow."
Three golfers are three shots off the lead in a tie for fourth.
Scheffler turned in a bogey-free round, carding five birdies on the front nine and another three coming in, including No. 18.
"I felt like my ball-striking was really good today. Hit a lot of greens," Scheffler said. "I played the par-5s well. The par-3s I felt like today were playing very challenging, and I played the par-3s really well.
"Overall it was a good effort. Proud of the score today."
The next-lowest scores of Saturday's round were 65s posted by Adam Schenk and Alejandro Tosti.
Straka also played bogey-free golf Saturday, recording four birdies for his 67.
Morikawa finds himself trying to chase down Scheffler for a second consecutive week. He was playing a clean round with four birdies until a bogey on No. 16.
"I absolutely want to win," Morikawa said. "There's no reason why – you look at the past two weeks, it's like, I've given myself chances, it's time to close one out.
"I think for tomorrow I've just got to stay within myself and play my game. I've really got to stick to my game plan, stick to how I have plotted out this golf course, and go from there."--REUTERS