Lighting delays Tour Champs as Scheffler clings on to narrow lead

The third round of the Tour Championship was suspended because of lightning with Scottie Scheffler leading by one shot on 19 under par at East Lake in Atlanta.

Rory McIlroy is four shots behind Scheffler with two holes of his third round remaining. The Northern Irishman five under par for his round, having carded an eagle and four birdies in his 16 completed holes. Justin Thomas will return to a two-foot birdie putt on the 18th. He is currently six under par for his round and five off the lead.

Scheffler and Schauffele had both managed 12 holes of their third round, which had already been delayed by an hour because of the weather, when play was finally halted. Scheffler began the tournament with a four-shot lead over Schauffele as players began the season-ending event on different scores determined by their place in the FedEx Cup standings. 

But Schauffele had trimmed that advantage to two after 36 holes and started round three strongly with birdies at the second and third to move alongside Scheffler on 19 under. However, he paid the price for missing fairways with bogeys at the fourth and fifth holes, only to birdie the sixth and seventh – the latter thanks to a 33-foot putt to again equal Scheffler. After seven pars, Scheffler holed a 12-foot birdie putt at the eighth to pull one stroke ahead and both made bogeys at the par-three 11th after landing in bunkers, leaving Scheffler ahead when play was stopped.

“With a 72-hole event I think it’s still pretty early in the tournament,” said Scheffler.  “We’re all just kind of jockeying for position and I was just out there trying to hit some quality shots. I wasn’t playing my best, but I was kind of hanging in there. I was looking forward to giving myself some opportunities at the end, but then the horn went off.”

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