Dominant Scheffler closes in on first win of year
CJ Cup Byron Nelson - third round leaderboard-23 S Scheffler (US); -15 R Castillo (US), A Schenk (US), E Van Rooyen (SA); -14 K Kitayama (US), J Vegas (Ven)Full leaderboard
Scottie Scheffler carries a commanding eight-shot lead into the final round of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Sunday as the world number one closes in on a first win of 2025.The American, 28, carded a five-under-par 66 in his third round to reach an overall 23 under through 54 holes at TPC Craig Ranch in Texas.Second place on 15 under is shared by Scheffler's compatriots Adam Schenk and Ricky Castillo, and South Africa's Erik van Rooyen.American Kurt Kitayama and Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas, on 14 under, are the only other players inside 10 shots of Scheffler, who birdied the 18th on Saturday despite completing his round in darkness after the horn blew to suspend play.On his decision to finish in the gloom, Scheffler explained that he wanted to avoid the nuisance factor of having to return to the course on Sunday morning to complete his third round, before facing a long wait to begin his final 18 holes in the last pairing.He said: "If we were going to come back pretty early in the morning, even if finishing 18 would have cost me a shot, I think it would have saved me a shot [on Sunday] based on energy, not having to come out here early and wait five hours or so to tee off."Once they gave us the go-ahead to finish, I was definitely very anxious to finish."He added: "I couldn't see very well, but I finished in the dark many times growing up. It's not that big of a deal."Scheffler set the lowest 36-hole total of his PGA Tour career when he followed his opening 61 with a 63 on Friday.That was also the second-lowest 36-hole total in Tour history after Justin Thomas' 123 at the 2017 Sony Open.Play was held up for more than six hours during Friday's storm-affected second round before being suspended, which meant the third round did not begin until the afternoon on Saturday.Scheffler, who won seven titles on the PGA Tour last season, split seven birdies with two bogeys to move closer to victory and the winner's $1.78m (£1.3m) prize money.Scheffler missed the beginning of this season after undergoing surgery on a hand injury. He finished fourth at last month's Masters, the first major of the year.Last year he became the first player to win seven PGA Tour titles in a single season since Tiger Woods in 2007.
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