What we know and still don’t know about LIV Golf, the circuit challenging the PGA Tour

ATLANTA – Notes and observations from the third round of the TOUR Championship, where Paul Casey holds a two-shot lead after shooting 65 on Saturday. For more from East Lake Golf Club, click here to read the Daily Wrap-Up. CASEY NOT BACKING DOWN Casey may lead the TOUR Championship, but the FedExCup’s top two players used late rallies Saturday to keep their FedExCup chances alive. Justin Thomas, who’s T4 in the TOUR Championship, is just 220 points behind Casey in the projected standings, while Jordan Spieth is just 246 points back. Spieth is T13 in the TOUR Championship. Thomas struggled for most of Saturday, but made birdie on two of his final three holes to shoot 70. He’s in a three-way tie for fourth at 7-under 203, five shots behind Casey. If Casey, who has one PGA TOUR win in 219 career TOUR starts, wins the TOUR Championship, Thomas can still win the FedExCup with a third-place finish. The last time the TOUR Championship winner didn’t also win the FedExCup? In 2009, when Phil Mickelson won the tournament and Tiger Woods claimed the FedExCup. Spieth is eight shots off the lead, but his FedExCup chances also are still alive. He birdied three of his final six holes to shoot 69 on Saturday. He’s trying to join Tiger Woods as the only players to win the FedExCup multiple times. “I was 2 over through 11 holes and I missed about a 3‑footer for birdie on the 12th and I really could be at 1 or 2 over for the tournament right now pretty easily,â€� Spieth said. “I did a great job of keeping myself in the FedExCup race and really in a solid position. I know that I’m capable of going low on this golf course.â€� If Casey wins the TOUR Championship, Spieth could still win the FedExCup with a T4 finish at East Lake. He is three shots out of fourth place. KIS CONTENDING Kevin Kisner took to Twitter on Friday night to request a helicopter ride from East Lake to Athens, Georgia, so that he could watch his beloved Georgia Bulldogs play Saturday night. He may be able to buy a helicopter come Sunday. Kisner shot Saturday’s low round, a 6-under 64, to put himself in contention for the TOUR Championship and FedExCup. He’s tied for second, two shots behind Casey.   I need a helicopter to take me to Athens tomorrow after the round to make the game. Who has one in ATL?— Kevin Kisner (@K_Kisner) September 22, 2017 Saturday’s 64 was Kisner’s low career round at East Lake by three shots. He broke par in just one of his first eight rounds at East Lake, but has shot in the 60s in all three rounds this year, shooting 68-68-64. Kisner gave the local fans something to cheer about before he cheered on Georgia in its Saturday evening game against Mississippi State. “It’s awesome being able to hear all the ‘Go Dawgs’ out there,â€� Kisner said. “There’s a lot of people I know and a lot of people that love me and like me out here, so I feel like it’s kind of a hometown event.â€� CALL OF THE DAY XANDER GOING LOW Xander Schauffele squeaked into the field at East Lake with a furious finish at the BMW Championship. Now he has a second PGA TOUR title within his reach. Schauffele shot Saturday’s second-lowest round, a 5-under 65, to pull within two shots of Casey. Schauffele already is a virtual lock for the PGA TOUR’s Rookie of the Year award. A win this week would add another accomplishment to an impressive rookie season. Schauffele got into the TOUR Championship by shooting 6 under on the final six holes of last week’s BMW Championship. He won this year’s The Greenbrier Classic and posted top-20 finishes at two majors (U.S. Open and the Open Championship), the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and two of the first three events of the FedExCup Playoffs. “It’s all surreal,â€� Schauffele said of this season’s success, “and I’m going to try and keep that mindset for tomorrow, just kind of have that nothing‑to‑lose mindset and see where it takes us.â€� SHOT OF THE DAY BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

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As the LIV golf tour makes its debut in the United States, sportsbooks in various states have had different approaches to allowing betting action on events.

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POTOMAC, Md. — David Lingmerth waved his arm disgustedly to the right to warn the gallery after he blocked his tee shot on the tight par-5 10th hole at TPC Potomac. After two shots from the rough, one from a hazard and one from a bunker, he made a 6-footer for bogey to fall to 3 over for the day. He was still tied for the lead. Minutes later, he led by himself again when Daniel Summerhays bogeyed 11. It was that kind of day at the Quicken Loans National. Lingmerth steadied himself after his adventure on 10 and made an aggressive swing with a driver that came off perfectly on the short par-4 14th, leading to a two-putt birdie. The 29-year-old Swede made a sloppy bogey on 17 and managed a 3-over 73 to drop to 7 under and maintain a one-shot over Summerhays. Spencer Levin, who teed off two hours ahead of Lingmerth, was alone in third at 5 under after the best round of the day, a 65. There was little wind Saturday, and the greens were softened by a thunderstorm that caused a 90-minute delay, but TPC Potomac played as difficult as ever, showing as much bite as its storied neighbor, Congressional. Saturday ended the same way the first two rounds did — with Lingmerth atop the leaderboard. Lingmerth, who came from behind to win a Web.com Tour event at TPC Potomac in 2012, has a chance to go wire-to-wire for his second PGA TOUR victory. “I haven’t had the wire-to-wire scenario in my career, but a lot of great players have won tournaments that way and I would like to do it as well,” he said. “I’m kind of feeling like I’m up for the challenge.” Lingmerth relied on a fade to avoid trouble off the tee while starting the tournament with back-to-back rounds of 65. On Saturday, it didn’t take long for his go-to shot to abandon him. He yanked his opening tee shot into a fairway bunker, leading to bogey. It was one of four tee shots he missed to the left in the first eight holes, including a driver in the water on the narrow par-4 fourth. Still, no one managed to get ahead. Geoff Ogilvy’s putter went cold and he didn’t make a birdie in a round of 74. He was still just three shots back, along with a fellow Australian half his age, Curtis Luck, who shot 67, and South Korean Sung Kang, who shot 71. Kyle Stanley and Charles Howell III both shot 67 and were four shots back. Just 17 players were under par after three rounds. Summerhays was solid from tee to green but couldn’t get many putts to fall. His only chance to win this season came at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, where he led by three shots after 54 holes but shot a final-round 78 to tie for 10th. He’s earned $8.4 million in 188 career PGA TOUR starts without a victory. “I struck the ball extremely well,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of great looks, so maybe I just need to persuade that ball into the cup a little bit more.” Levin has been the PGA TOUR’s iron man this season, with little to show for it. He’s making his 25th start and has teed it up in every event he’s been eligible for, making only 10 cuts and failing to record a top-20 finish. At 176th in the FedExCup standings, he’s in danger of losing his tour card. “It was the best round I’ve had all year by far. It’s been a tough year, but the putts have been going in this week, which is obviously why I’m playing well,” Levin said. Levin, who first gained attention as a cigarette-smoking amateur at the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, has played in 232 events in his PGA TOUR career, with his best finish a runner-up in 2011. That was also the year he played in his only British Open. “I’ve had a chance and have never won, so if I don’t, it wouldn’t be anything new,” Levin said. “But I’m going to go out there with a different mindset. I’m going to try and make putts and see if I can’t do it.” Even if he doesn’t win, he could earn one of four spots available at this event for the British Open at Royal Birkdale. No player inside the top 18 going into the final round is currently eligible for golf’s next major.

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