Live leaderboard: Round 3 of WGC-Mexico

Here are nine tidbits from the third round of the World Golf Championship-Mexico Championship at the Club de Golf Chapultepec outside Mexico City that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be on the lookout for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. Curry Up Shubhankar Sharma maintained his two-shot lead playing in the final group in Round 3 with Xander Schauffele and Rafael Cabrera Bello. The 21-year-old Indian posted 69 (-2), his third-consecutive round in the 60’s, to post the 54-hole lead. Just nine gamers selected him in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO while less than one percent of gamers selected him in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO. The heat turns up on Sunday as he’ll spot Phil Mickelson two shots in the final group as he hopes to achieve the unthinkable. The Final Group Mickelson’s torrid run continues as his third-round, bogey-free 65 has him poised to win his first TOUR event since the 2013 Open Championship. He entered the week with an aggregate score of 36-under-par in his last three events (T5, T2 and T6). According to stat maven Justin Ray, Phil Mickelson has never cashed T6 or better in four straight events. Ever. Who will be dealing with the most pressure in the final group? Stay tuned. Been There, Done That #NappyFactor is the most wonderful “Loch Ness Monster” of gaming. Sergio Garcia, whose wife’s baby is due March 17th, has won this year and also posted T32 in Dubai and T33 at The Honda Classic. He is the most recent winner of the top five and should be confident heading into tomorrow with who is surrounding him on the leaderboard. Running Down a Dream The other half of the Spanish Armada, Rafael Cabrera Bello, held serve with 69 and enters Sunday T2. Like Sharma, he’s trying to breakthrough with his first win on the PGA TOUR. He’s only won once in since 2013, so you can see why I’m leaning on Garcia. RCB leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting for the week, but I’m interested to see if that putting stroke holds up on the back nine Sunday. Repeat After Me Defending champion Dustin Johnson is not going quietly into the good night. His 68 in Round 3 has him sitting just three shots off the lead and in position to repeat. After missing 16 putts (!) inside 10 feet last year, he’s first in putts-per-GIR and fifth in Strokes-Gained: Putting this time around. Imagine if he finds a couple more fairways and greens tomorrow! Moving Day: Right Way I’ve cursed Englishman Tyrrell Hatton by spelling his name incorrectly since he’s been on TOUR. #MyBad. I’d suggest you join Twitter just to follow him as his sense of humour alone is worth the follow. Gamers have heard the phrase “beware the injured golfer” before. Hatton entered the week with a bit of “Tourista” and was unsure of how he would perform, especially wearing white trousers. The answer was a resounding, bogey-free 64 in Round 3 to complete his second round in a row without a bogey, moving up 18 spots to T2. … One question that newer gamers have usually centers on how the previous week’s winner will perform next time out. Justin Thomas resides in the group of “no worries” after his Hawaii double to begin 2017. He reinforced that angle with 62 today that jumped him 28 spots to 10th. He’s only four shots out of the lead, and he’ll need another low one tomorrow to bounce higher up the board. I’m not betting against that happening. Moving Day: Wrong Way Bubba Watson had three birdies but also had a pair of bogeys and a double to drop out of the top five to T17. Pro gamers will point out trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube is easier than predicting Watson’s results. … Daniel Berger is trying the patience of gamers for the second week in a row. His Sunday 75 at The Honda Classic knocked him down the leaderboard to T29. His 72 (+1) knocked him out of the top 15 on Saturday. … Louis Oosthuizen’s 75 at The Honda Classic on Sunday saw him finish T24. His 76 in Round 3 dropped him from T5 to T32. Can’t Win For Losing The most popular golfer in both PGA TOUR game formats, Tommy Fleetwood, helped in both of them today. I wrote yesterday that I would bench him in an effort to spark him up the leaderboard. His 67 moved him up 11 spots to T29 and helped the gamers who kept him in the lineup for Saturday. He’s 10 shots out of the lead, so he’ll need a Justin Thomas-like performance tomorrow to reward his O&D investors. Study Hall The 62 posted by Justin Thomas saw him post the course record, one shot better than his buddy Jordan Spieth (63) from last year. … Pat Perez leads the field with 17 birdies. … The cleanest card goes to Tyrrell Hatton (spell-checked) as the Englishman has two bogeys and nothing worse. … Jhonattan Vegas has 40 pars but his 10 birdies and four pars are only good for T17. Bogey avoidance is nice but making birdies is better.

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Scottie Scheffler outlasted Ryder Cup teammate Patrick Cantlay on the third hole of a playoff Sunday in the WM Phoenix Open, making a 25-foot birdie putt that had just enough momentum to tumble in. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Get to know Sahith Theegala in 10 stories | Winner’s Bag: Scottie Scheffler, WM Phoenix Open Cantlay missed an 11-foot birdie try after Scheffler holed his putt. Scheffler birdied four of the final six holes for a 4-under 67 to match Cantlay at 16-under 268 at TPC Scottsdale on another sunny, 80-degree day. Cantlay, playing a group ahead of Scheffler, had a bogey-free 67. Scheffler broke through in his 71st PGA TOUR start. Before Sunday, the 25-year-old former University of Texas star’s biggest professional highlights were beating Jon Rahm in September in United States’ Ryder Cup victory at Whistling Straits and shooting a 59 in the 2020 THE NORTHERN TRUST. Scheffler and Cantlay matched pars on the first two extra trips down 18, with both players hitting the fairway and green the first time and both scrambling to save par on the second. Scheffler missed a chance to end it in regulation when his 5 1/2-foot birdie try slid right. On the stadium par-3 16th, he left a birdie putt 2 inches short. Nine strokes back entering the weekend, Scheffler shot a 62 on Saturday to pull within two strokes of leader Sahith Theegala and get into the final group. Scheffler played the first 12 holes in even par Sunday, with four birdies and four bogeys, before the late charge. The fourth-ranked Cantlay was making his first start in the event, adding it to his schedule only because he figured it would be easier to play three straight weeks instead of traveling back and forth from Florida between two of his favorite events in California. The FedExCup champion nearly left with his third victory in his last six starts. On the 18th in regulation, he left a 9-foot birdie putt short. Theegala, the rookie who took the lead into the day, lost a share of the top spot with a bogey on the par-4 17th after driving left into the water. The 24-year-old shot a 70 to tie for third at 15 under with 2021 winner Brooks Koepka (69) and Xander Schauffele (68). Theegala missed a chance to become the first player to win on a sponsor exemption since Martin Laird in the 2020 Shriners Children’s Open. Koepka, also the 2015 winner, closed with birdies on 17 and 18. Billy Horschel (66) and Alex Noren (68) were 14 under, with Justin Thomas (66) another stroke back with two-time winner Hideki Matsuyama (69). Rahm had a 67 to tie for 10th. The top-ranked former Arizona State star lives a few miles from the course. “The only time I really felt in command of the golf swing was the first 18 holes and the last nine,” Rahm said about the week. “That’s about it. Everything else in between, there was a bit of doubt in a lot of the swings.” With the leaders just getting started, Carlos Ortiz brought the wild 16th hole to life before noon with the second hole-in-one in two days. His 8-iron shot on the 178-yard hole landed in front of the pin and rolled in, catching the left edge. The ace was the 11th at No. 16 since the tournament moved to the course in 1997. The last time there were two aces on 16 in a week was 1997 when Tiger Woods did it in the third round and Steve Stricker in the fourth. Playing the back nine first, Ortiz followed with a 13-foot eagle putt on the par-4 17th — becoming the first player this season with consecutive eagles — and finished with a 67 to tie for 33rd at 7 under.

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DUBLIN, Ohio — Cameron Smith believes he is playing the best golf of his life, and it shows. He is in the lead at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, a tournament where the Australian doesn’t have a great history. Smith elicited one of the loudest cheers of a glorious afternoon Friday at Muirfield Village — another anomaly for this weather-plagued tournament — when he holed out with a downhill chip from beyond the green on the par-3 12th that carried him to a 3-under 69. He kept his one-shot lead over Denny McCarthy and K.H. Lee the rest of the day by doing what Smith does best. He holed a 15-foot putt for par on the next hole and twice made 6-foot par putts for bunker saves down the stretch. “I think I’m just happy with the way I stuck in there,” Smith said. “Really happy with where my short game’s at. I feel like I’m rolling the ball really good. Just need to sort out that longer stuff.” As for his history at the Memorial? In six previous appearance, Smith only made the cut twice and both times and finished outside the top 60. His best round was a 71. But this is a new Smith, the winner of THE PLAYERS Championship and the Sentry Tournament of Champions. So his rounds of 67-69 to reach 8-under 136 and be in the lead going into the weekend is hardly a surprise, even at Muirfield Village. “I think my game’s in a good spot. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be,” he said. “I’m playing some of the best golf of my life, and I feel I’m getting more consistent with the longer stuff. So just looking forward to everything coming up.” Billy Horschel putted for birdie on every hole and made four of them for a 68 that left him in the group two shots behind with Torrey Pines winner Luke List, PGA TOUR rookies Cameron Young and Davis Riley, and Jhonattan Vegas. Rory McIlroy had a 69 and was three shots behind. Defending champion Patrick Cantlay closed with two big par putts for a 69 and was at 3-under 141. The cut was at 2-over 146. Among those missing out on the weekend were Bryson DeChambeau and Harris English, both returning from injuries. DeChambeau (hand surgery) had not played since the Masters. English (hip surgery) had not played since the Sony Open in January. McCarthy’s name was mentioned prominently even before the Memorial began, and then he lived up to the praise. He took only 25 putts Friday — he only had 24 putts the day before — for a 3-under 69 that put him one shot behind. For those who don’t pore over the litany of statistics available on the PGA TOUR, it was a little surprising when McIlroy was asked earlier in the week whom he considered the better putters in today’s game. He mentioned Jordan Spieth. Everyone knows him. He was impressed with Sam Burns, a three-time winner over the last eight months. And he mentioned McCarthy. Told of McIlroy’s comments earlier in the week, McCarthy smiled and said, “I would like to drive it like Rory.” “Everyone has the best part of their game. Obviously, putting is part of mine,” said McCarthy, who is No. 5 in the key putting statistic for the season. “Driving the ball is the best part of his game. I’m no slouch around the course, like putting is not the only thing I do well. Everyone brings up my putter; yes, I’m a good putter. But I need to do good things to get to those putts.” McIlroy, meanwhile, has been picking up a little momentum since his closing 64 at the Masters for a runner-up finish. He finished four shots behind at the Wells Fargo Championship and three shots out of a playoff at the PGA Championship. McIlroy surged into the mix at the Memorial with a fairway metal that was high and true and into a freshening breeze to 6 feet for eagle on the par-5 fifth toward the end of his round. His momentum was slowed by a bogey from the bunker on the par-3 eighth, but his 69 left him in reasonable shape going into the weekend. Jon Rahm overcame a shank on the second hole — he made birdie on the next one — to scratch out a 70 without his best iron game. He was at 2-under 142, six shots behind. Rahm won in 2020. He was six shots ahead after three rounds last year until his positive COVID-19 test knocked him out of the final round.

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