Hideki Matsuyama holds a one-shot lead at the Phoenix Open after the third round, but England’s Matt Fitzpatrick is two behind and poised to mount a final day charge.
Matsuyama finished the day three-under-par on 68 despite narrowly missing a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th.
The 33-year-old Japanese, who won the Phoenix title in 2016 and 2017, was earlier tied with Ryo Hisatsune but took the lead when his compatriot bogeyed the 18th to finish a shot behind.
Hisatsune is joined by Nicolai Hojgaard, Si Woo Kim and Maverick McNealy, who are all tied for second.
Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, is another shot off the pace on 11-under-par and in a four-way tie alongside Americans Michael Thorbjornsen, Jake Knapp and Akshay Bhatia.
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler carded a 67 in the third round to sit five shots of the lead.
Scheffler is still in the hunt for a 21st PGA Tour title and second of 2026, after January’s American Express, and will take inspiration from the event four years ago, when he won from nine shots back.
“I’ve always been a proponent of saying you can’t really find it during the tournament week, but I found a little something in my grip yesterday that seemed to really help me get my hands more securely on the club,” Scheffler told PGATour.com on Saturday.
“Struck it much better today. Felt a bit lost out there at times yesterday, so today felt a lot better. Felt more in control of my game. You can obviously see that through the cleaner card today.”
Watch the final round of the WM Phoenix Open live on Sky Sports Golf from 5pm on Sunday. Coverage also picks up on Sky Sports Main Event from 8pm. Stream contract-free on NOW.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
