Scheffler chases title and World No. 1 ranking, Rahm in close chase; Korean Sungjae best Asian at sixth

Scottsdale, Ariz: Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion held onto the lead at the WM Phoenix Open in a bid to successfully defend his title and regain the No. 1 spot in the world.

Scheffler, the World No. 2, shot a 3-under 68 in front of some 200,000 fans at TPC Scottsdale to get to 13 under, two strokes ahead of third-ranked Jon Rahm and Nick Taylor.

Scheffler is chased by Canadian Nick Taylor (67) and Spaniard Jon Rahm (68), who is aiming for a third TOUR victory in four starts. Jordan Spieth (69) and Adam Hadwin (71) share fourth place on 203 in what is the second designated tournament of the year.

Scheffler would take the No. 1 spot from Rory McIlroy — tied for 28th at 3 under after a 70 — with a victory, as long as McIlroy finishes worse than solo third. Scheffler also could get to No. 1 by finishing solo second if McIlroy is 36th or worse and Rahm doesn’t win.

Rahm, the former Arizona State star from Spain, would go to No. 1 with a victory if McIlroy finishes worse than a three-way tie for second, or by finishing solo second if McIlroy finishes worse than solo 47th and Scheffler doesn’t win.

Jordan Spieth and Adam Hadwin were 10 under.

Scheffler, who is defending a PGA TOUR title for the first time, birdied Hole Nos. 2, 4, 14 and 17 to offset a lone on 13 to retain his overnight lead. The American will also be seeking to become the seventh player to successfully defend the WM Phoenix Open, with Matsuyama being the last player to do so.

“I haven’t been thinking about it too much,” said Scheffler about his thoughts on the first title defence bid. “I didn’t start at a couple under this week. Everybody started even. Had to go out there and do my best. I’m in the position now. Something I talked about at the beginning of the week was I felt like I’ve been on the outside looking in on Sundays. To be in the final group with a two-shot lead, I believe, is definitely a position I want to be in.

Korean Im stays in contention

Korea’s Sungjae Im started fast and finished strong to remain in contention after the third round. A second successive 4-under 67 at TPC Scottsdale moved the 24-year-old into a share of the sixth position on 9-under 204, four adrift of Scheffler.

Im, a two-time PGA TOUR winner, birdied two of his opening four holes which included a 38-footer on the par-3 4th hole before marking his scorecard with three more birdies and a lone bogey over the five-hole stretch starting from Hole No. 13. He made birdies on all the three par-5 holes.

The Korean star was happy to remain the hunt despite an errant driver, hitting only seven fairways. “In the front nine, there were not many opportunities due to poor tee shots, but as my driving improved on the back nine, I was able to create more opportunities. There was not too much wind too coming in, so it became a little easier to manage my game.”

Im knows he has to keep his foot on the pedal in his bid to end a 16-month title drought dating back to October 2021 when he won the Shriners Children’s Open and also etch his name into the tournament’s history books as the second Asian winner after Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who won at TPC Scottsdale in 2016 and 2017.

He is also keen to deliver a third birdie of the week at the famous par 3 16th hole, which has a purpose-built arena that fits 17,000 fans.

Korea’s Si Woo Kim, the Sony Open in Hawaii winner last month, jumped 20 rungs to T20 on 208 following a 67 while Matsuyama continued his resurgence by carding an identical score to power from T54 to T25 on 209. Tom Kim was left rueing a costly double bogey on the last hole as he slipped to T28 after battling to a 73.

Last year, Scheffler beat Patrick Cantlay in a playoff for his first PGA TOUR title. Scheffler added victories in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and Masters and was the PGA TOUR’s Player of the Year.

Rickie Fowler, the 2019 winner, had a 67 to join Tyrrell Hatton (67), Sungjae Im (67), Jason Day (68) and Xander Schauffele (70) at 9 under. Schauffele bogeyed Nos. 15 and 16.

–IANS