Golf

Scottie Scheffler two shots clear of field in Phoenix as he targets Rory McIlroy’s No 1 slot

Golf round-up: Ockie Strydom claims Singapore Classic title after final-day charge

Scottie Scheffler reacts to a missed putt on the eighth green during the third round of the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona. Photograph: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Scottie Scheffler reacts to a missed putt on the eighth green during the third round of the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona. Photograph: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Sun Feb 12 2023 - 12:43

Scottie Scheffler maintained a two-stroke advantage following the third round of the WM Phoenix Open as the defending champion seeks to make it back-to-back victories in Arizona and retake the world number one spot from Rory McIlroy.

Scheffler can move back to top spot if he wins the tournament and McIlroy finishes alone in third place at worst. Scheffler can even take over if he finishes alone in second spot and McIlroy is lower than 36th and Jon Rahm doesn’t win.

Scheffler picked up two birdies on the front and back nine, along with a solitary bogey on the par-five 13th, en route to recording a round of three-under 68.

It was enough to lift Scheffler to 13 under for the tournament, two shots clear from a crowded chasing pack.

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Rahm and Canada’s Nick Taylor are hot on Scheffler’s heels at 11 under, while Jordan Spieth and Adam Hadwin are also within range at 10 under.

England’s Tyrrell Hatton sits a shot further back, after climbing three spots on the leaderboard with a second-straight round of 67.

McIlroy is tied for 28th place after carding a one-under 70 on Saturday.

Séamus Power made a strong move up the leaderboard on the back of a five-under 66 as he moved into a tie for 20th on five under.

Meanwhile, Ockie Strydom fired a flawless nine-under-par 63 in his final round to burst through the field and win the Singapore Classic.

South African Strydom started the day four shots off the pace set by Jeunghun Wang and Alejandro del Rey, but while they fell away, Finland’s Sami Valimaki looked most likely to take advantage.

He was three clear of the field after sinking a 30-footer for birdie at the 10th, but Strydom reeled him in, adding four back-nine birdies to his five on the way out.

The pick of the bunch was on the par-five 18th when he left himself in a bit of trouble through the green with his second, but he held his nerve and chipped his shot stone dead to tap-in for birdie and set the target at 19 under.

That left Valimaki heading up the last needing an eagle to win or birdie to force a playoff but he left his second shot short and a par was the best he could manage.

Looking back on his touch of magic at the last, Strydom said: “It’s a funny one. I said to my caddie that it’s either got to go up in the air and if you hit a bit behind it, it’s wet.

“I took a wedge, it came out absolutely phenomenal. I didn’t think it was coming out that good. But it did and ended up where it was.”

Strydom’s maiden win, at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, was back in December and helped him get over the line here.

He said: “It’s a mindset that’s changing at the moment. When you’ve been in that situation before and you know you can do it again.

“I was thinking about not being here this week. Hitting it so badly. My coach flew in and my wife said to me, ‘listen, maybe this is your week’. And look what happened, it’s my week.”

Valimaki was on his own in second on 18 under with Marcel Schneider, Jeunghun Wang and Alejandro del Rey another three shots further back.

Scotsman Grant Forrest and English pair Paul Waring and Richard Mansell were in the group sharing sixth on 14 under, while Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin was a shot further back on 13 under after closing with a one-under 71 in a tournament he led after the opening round when he shot a 64.