NASSAU, Bahamas – Justin Thomas has one last chance to win a tournament in 2024 and he’ll head into the final round with a one-stroke lead over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler at the Hero World Challenge.
Thomas carded a bogey-free 6-under 66 at Albany Club on a warm and wind-swept Saturday to improve to 17-under 199.
“I didn’t think I played nearly as well as he had the first two days but it was tough out there and I made a few more putts,” he said.
Thomas struggled mightily with the putter the first two days, ranking last in Strokes Gained: Putting, and joked, “there was only one way to go.”
He reeled off birdies at Nos. 4 and 6 from inside 10 feet and then let his driver do some damage. Using a 46-inch driver this week, he drove the green at the 359-yard seventh to inside 10 feet and two-putted for birdie.
“That was nice,” he said. “I didn’t have to go full go. It was an advantage for me. I felt like I could be in control… Because how the green sits, you can’t see the ball until you get up there so it was nice to see it up there.”
He tacked on a birdie at nine to go out in 32. His next birdie, at No. 14, was an unlikely one. After being out of position off the tee, his pitch ran 47 feet past the hole, but he buried it after recalling something his caddie had said the other day.
“I had a similar thing on Thursday where I hit a bad chip and Rev was, you can still make the putt, you’re fine, that kind of thing. I kind of reminded myself that,” he said.
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Thomas has had a lot of success at the Hero over the years, owning top-five finishes in his four most recent appearances (third/2023, fifth/2022, T-5/2021, T-5/2019). But victory has eluded him at any Tour event since the 2022 PGA Championship.
“I’ve been progressing nicely, been working on all the right things. Feel like I’ve been seeing signs of improvement, which is what you want and that’s all I can do. I can’t control everybody else or what’s going on, I’ve just got to keep playing as good as I possibly can and hope that it’s enough come Sunday,” he said.
If so, that trophy would come from none other than Tiger Woods.
“That would be great. I’ve had a couple opportunities in the past, but it’s definitely something I’d love to check off my box in my career at some point,” he said.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler shot 69 on Saturday and played his way into the final group alongside Justin Thomas. But is he pleased with his play so far, which included an 8-under 64 on Friday? Not so much.
“Pleased I think would be a stretch, but overall my game’s in a good spot,” he said. “I’ve liked what I’ve seen the last few days out there on the course and hoping to finish off with a real solid round tomorrow.”
If pleased wasn’t the right word, Scheffler was asked what word he’d use instead. “That’s too difficult a question. My vocabulary is not that vast,” he said with a smile and a chuckle.
Earlier in his comments summing up the round, he chose the word “decent.”
“I had a stretch at 13, 14, 15 where I felt like I lost a shot or two there, but outside of that I did a lot of really good things today,” he said.
Scheffler complained of a few too many lip-outs spoiling what could’ve been another mid-60s round for him.
“I felt I had some good putts that should have gone in. I had a putt on 1 that looked really good, I had a putt on 10, putt there on 18 that I hit a really good putt just around the cup,” he said. “Overall I feel like it’s coming off my blade really nice. Yeah, so every time it looks like it’s going towards the hole, I feel like it should be going in and that’s a good feeling.”
Tom Kim had a good feeling.
Coming off the lone hiccup of his day at 17, where he needed two shots to extricate himself from the sand, Kim caught the left bunker at 18 and got his revenge. He holed the bunker shot for birdie, his 12th of the day, and posted 10-under 62. Then he told caddie Paul Tesori he knew he was going to make it.
“He actually called BS on it,” Kim said. “He said, ‘No, you didn’t,’ and I tell him like I really did. I saw a good spot, it was a really good spot to miss at. We talked over the shot and kind of let it go. As soon as it landed, I was like, man, this is a really good shot.”
Man, was it a really good day. Kim’s 12 birdies were the most he’s ever made on the Tour.
“I had a few long putts where you’re not really expecting to make and those go in. I did a lot of good things just to keep my momentum going,” he said, noting a clutch par save at No. 8 and a 20-footer on No. 9. “Made a bomb on 10. Had a really easy — I hit a good drive on 11 so it was kind of like an easy birdie, but didn’t hit it on the green and chipped it really good.”
Given that the wind picked up and scoring tended to be higher on Saturday, Scheffler was impressed with Kim’s ability to go low.
“That’s pretty serious golf out there,” he said. “I feel like I played pretty solid yesterday with no wind and shot 8, so 10 in the wind is a pretty special round.”
Kim vaulted to 15 under overall, good for solo third and two back of the lead, which is all the more impressive given that he was 3 over after six holes and opened in 2-over 74. Kim said he made a small adjustment that has paid quick dividends.
“My spin numbers were coming out a little different than usual. So paid a lot of attention after the round and just put that in play yesterday and automatically I saw some results and I just kind of did the same thing and just seems to be paying off a little bit,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Justin Thomas pulls ahead, but Scottie Scheffler is in his rearview mirror at the Hero World Challenge
