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Scottie Scheffler Closes in on  Million FedEx Cup Prize with Late Streak of Birdies
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Scottie Scheffler Closes in on $25 Million FedEx Cup Prize with Late Streak of Birdies

ATLANTA (AP) — The most PGA Tour wins in 15 years. A Masters green jacket and an Olympic gold medal. And now Scottie Scheffler is one round away from capping this astonishing season with a FedEx Cup title and the $25 million prize that comes with it.

Scheffler made four birdies in his last five holes on Saturday for a 5-under 66, extending his lead over Collin Morikawa in the Tour Championship at East Lake to five strokes.

He also knows that the work is not yet done.

Two years ago, Scheffler completed the third round of a rain-delayed Tour Championship on Sunday morning by building a six-stroke lead. He fell apart that afternoon with a 73 and watched Rory McIlroy race past him to capture the PGA Tour’s grand prize.

The task for Scheffler is simple.

“Keep doing what I always do, stay in the moment, stay patient out there,” Scheffler said. “I’ve bogeyed the first hole two out of the last three days, and both times I bogeyed the first hole, I haven’t bogeyed again since. So that’s kind of good momentum for me.”

It was an even better moment at the end, with Morikawa (67) hot on his heels. Morikawa birdied three of his last four holes but still finished one stroke further behind than the four-stroke deficit he had at the start of the third round.

“Not exactly the moving day I needed, but I knew all week that I was going to need something special to get me through this and I need something really special,” Morikawa said. “But I believe in myself and hopefully that comes tomorrow.”

Scheffler, who started at 10-under par and had a two-stroke lead (six strokes ahead of No. 7 Morikawa), was at 26-under par.

No one else was closer than nine shots.

Sahith Theegala might have been two shots closer, had he not been given a two-stroke penalty on the third hole for lightly hitting the sand with his club from a bunker. The video wasn’t entirely clear, but Theegala informed the officials and his par was changed to a double bogey.

“I’m pretty sure I broke the rules, so I’m paying the price for it and I feel good about it,” Theegala said. “I’m not 100 percent sure. But I would say I’m 98, 99 percent sure that some sand was moved.”

He responded with seven birdies on the back nine for a 66 that left him nine strokes behind.

Morikawa moved within two shots of the lead when he hit a birdie putt from just inside 10 feet on the par-5 sixth hole. But he got no closer.

On the next hole, Scheffler made a 15-foot birdie putt, while Morikawa missed the green, dropping a putt just outside the 3-foot mark and missing it. With a two-stroke stroke, Scheffler restored his lead to four points.

They also played in the final group at the Masters, where Scheffler won by four points. Morikawa now knows what to expect.

“Five shots is a lot, but two-shot shots happen. I think I’ve seen a few of them the last few days,” Morikawa said. “Look, I just have to play my game. I have to bet low. I know that. I’ve got 18 holes left to go in the season. I keep talking about it, but I’m going to give it everything I’ve got in the next 24 hours.”

His raw score was 17-under 196, one stroke better than Scheffler.

Scheffler didn’t hit as many fairways and greens as he did in the first two rounds, but he was No. 2 in the key putting stats on Saturday. And he’s held off any challengers so far this week.

“I feel like I did a lot of things well and played solidly, so I’m looking forward to the challenge of finishing the tournament tomorrow,” he said.

British Open and PGA champion Xander Schauffele never got back on track. He started the day five shots behind, bogeyed twice in the first four holes and failed to birdie the three par 5s in his round of 71. He was 10 shots behind.

He has never hit more than seven fairways in all three rounds, and that has cost him dearly at times when he has had to go low to stay in the match.

“I just didn’t play well enough to shoot consecutive 7-under pars,” Schauffele said. “You have to hit at least 12 fairways to give yourself a serious chance and then obviously do a lot of good, but it starts with your ball on the short course.”

For everyone else, it’s a race for money.

The winner of the FedEx Cup will receive $25 million, second place will receive $12.5 million and third place will pay $7.5 million.

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AP wave: https://apnews.com/hub/golf