The role Tiger played in designing Scottie Scheffler’s irons

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico — Viktor Hovland was hitting it so well he had no trouble taking on a big risk, and it paid off Saturday with a big finish for a 9-under 62 and a two-shot lead in the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. RELATED: Leaderboard | Viktor Hovland contending with borrowed driver in Mayakoba Hovland, the defending champion at this Mexican resort, hit driver just over the green on the par-4 17th and hit a dart into the closing hole at El Cameleon for the lowest score of his PGA TOUR career. That gave him a two-shot lead over fellow Oklahoma State alum Talor Gooch (63), and he was three clear of Justin Thomas (64). “That was fun today,” Hovland said. “Obviously, got off to a nice start and it was nice to have one of those rounds where you can kind of keep it going throughout the day instead of maybe slowing down towards the end there where, frankly, there’s some tough holes.” Matthew Wolff, who started the weekend with a two-shot lead, made a pair of bogeys early in his round to fall out of the lead and managed only one birdie in his round of 73 that dropped him out of contention. Scottie Scheffler had a good start and little else, and a double bogey on the 14th hole when he drove into a hazard led to a 70 that put him seven shots behind. Hovland was at 19 under as he goes for his third PGA TOUR title. The Norwegian star already had made up a three-shot deficit with seven birdies, along with tough pars on some of the holes into the steady breeze. The TOUR moved up the tees about 100 yards on the 17th hole, with mangroves right of the green and a small lagoon to the left. Gooch was in the group ahead of him and hit iron off the tee and wedge to tap-in range for birdie that gave him a share of the lead. Hovland went with driver and it landed about 15 feet beyond the pin and rolled just off the edge. He pitched beautifully to 6 inches for birdie. “I’ve hit it great and I thought it was the play,” Hovland said. “So if it’s the play, you pull outt the big dog and you try to hit it.” Then, Hovland peeled a low driver into the fairway and stuffed that one about 4 feet away for another birdie to widen his lead. Gooch had a birdie putt that spun out of the cup on the 18th. Even so, he will be in the final group on Sunday as he goes after his first PGA TOUR victory. He did his best work earlier on the back nine, rolling in a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 12, an eagle putt from about 35 feet on the par-5 13th and then chipping in for birdie from just off the green at No. 14. “You never know when your time is going to come,” Gooch said, speaking specifically to his burst of scoring, and possibly to finally hoisting a trophy. This is his 102nd start. “The game came easy today,” he said. “I hit a bunch of fairways, hit a bunch of greens. Nice when you get a chip-in, you make a 30-footer and those are the type of things you need to have happen to turn it from a 67 to 63.” Thomas had a 62 in the third round last year at Mayakoba to at least give himself a chance. This time, he started much closer to the leaders and his 63 left him only three back. He began the tournament at 3 over for his opening nine. Thomas couldn’t help but think of his pairing with Patrick Cantlay at the BMW Championship, when Cantlay started slowly and wound up winning in a playoff. “And I know this is a course you can get on crazy kinds of runs out here,” Thomas. “It feels good to know I haven’t really done anything special, but I’ve just kind of checked the boxes and done a lot of things I need to do and put ourselves in a good spot.” Carlos Ortiz of Mexico had a 67 and was five shots behind.

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Both of this week’s tournaments are treated with stand-alone columns for PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO. Look for the edition for the Barracuda Championship on the FANTASY page. Also, if you play PGA TOUR Champions One & Done presented by SERVPRO, the 3M Championship begins Friday. Review the notables at the bottom of the page to assist you in determining your pick. With the conclusion of the season on the horizon, it’s that time of the year when gamers express gratitude for how my insight and analysis have assisted in success to date. You’re always welcome, but hang on for just a minute. Before we hug it out, there’s a not-so-insignificant task of actually breaking the tape. Many in pursuit of you are exactly where they expected to be entering the PGA Championship. Playing from behind can be a better mental motivator in reality because all fantasy gamers should prefer front-running, but in a One & Done, all that matters is the aggregate result. Too many of you who have reached out citing a contending position in earnings-based formats are essentially out of chalk. You’re hoping to hang on, but you know you’re gasping for air despite whatever margin you’re maintaining. Meanwhile, many of us plugged into PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO have end-weighted our master plan with powerhouses in the FedExCup Playoffs, myself included. The only problem with it is that Jason Day, who I have penciled in for the BMW Championship, isn’t guaranteed to get to Conway Farms. At least not yet. He’s 52nd in the FedExCup standings entering the PGA Championship; the top 70 after the Dell Technologies Championship advance. And even if he does, the Aussie hasn’t been performing well enough consistently to warrant selection for contending gamers. J-Wall has already burned Rory McIlroy, who I have slotted for TPC Boston. It’s tempting to exhaust the surging 28-year-old from Northern Ireland, but since FedExCup points are basically quadrupled in the Playoffs, I’m within striking distance right now and I can wait him out unchallenged, patience is the play at the PGA. The winner at Quail Hollow will earn 600 points. Compare that to a three-way T3 in the Playoffs worth 580 and the decision is easy. However, if you use earnings, consider yourself hurtled into McIlroy. Hideki Matsuyama, who J-Wall selected, is No. 1 in my Power Rankings, but McIlroy is really a 1a instead of No. 2. Both are premium picks this late. As I consider potential relief for Day, the 2015 BMW champion at Conway Farms, which also hosted in 2013, Zach Johnson (2013 champ) and Daniel Berger (2015 runner-up) are in my crosshairs. Both are still on my board and both are worthy of consideration at Quail Hollow. In fact, ZJ is No. 4 in my Power Rankings, but because Conway Farms is some 400 yards shorter, and Quail Hollow boasts Bermudagrass greens, I’m going to attempt to strike while Berger’s irons are hot. Since every gamer’s situation is unique, my perfect world would involve tackling yours one-on-one as I often do on Twitter, email and in discussion threads, but we settle for broad-stroke endorsements at worst. This is to say that if any of these additional options are still available to you in either method of measuring performance, give him a long look for the PGA: Paul Casey, Kevin Chappell, Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler, Charley Hoffman, Brooks Koepka, Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson, Henrik Stenson. Non-members aren’t eligible for the Playoffs, so this is probably your last opportunity to use Thomas Pieters, who is No. 6 in the Power Rankings. If you’re currently contending, here are the guys I’d advise holstering for usage in the Playoffs: Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Jordan Spieth. I’ve omitted advice for two-man gamers the last two weeks because of the depth of the fields at Firestone at Quail Hollow, but that subsection will return for next week’s Wyndham Championship. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2016-17. All are pending golfer commitment. Daniel Berger … BMW Keegan Bradley … Dell Technologies Paul Casey … TOUR Championship Kevin Chappell … Dell Technologies Jason Day … PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; BMW; TOUR Championship Luke Donald … Wyndham; BMW; TOUR Championship Jason Dufner … TOUR Championship Rickie Fowler … BMW Jim Furyk … BMW; TOUR Championship Sergio Garcia … TOUR Championship Branden Grace … PGA Championship Bill Haas … Wyndham J.B. Holmes … BMW Billy Horschel … TOUR Championship Dustin Johnson … BMW; TOUR Championship Zach Johnson … BMW; TOUR Championship Kevin Kisner … Wyndham Russell Knox … Dell Technologies Brooks Koepka … PGA Championship Hideki Matsuyama … PGA Championship; BMW Graeme McDowell … Wyndham William McGirt … Wyndham Rory McIlroy … PGA Championship; Dell Technologies (defending); BMW; TOUR Championship (defending) Phil Mickelson … PGA Championship Ryan Moore … TOUR Championship Kevin Na … Wyndham Louis Oosthuizen … Dell Technologies Patrick Reed … Wyndham; Dell Technologies Justin Rose … PGA Championship; TOUR Championship Charl Schwartzel … BMW Adam Scott … Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Webb Simpson … Wyndham Jordan Spieth … PGA Championship; TOUR Championship Henrik Stenson … PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Jimmy Walker … PGA Championship (defending); Dell Technologies Bubba Watson … TOUR Championship Gary Woodland … PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship

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– Hyo Joo Kim staved off a late charge from Hinako Shibuno to win the LPGA Tour’s LOTTE Championship on Saturday.

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