Scottie Scheffler (USA) drives from the eighth tee during the third round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Scheffler thought he hit a perfect shot.

Fifteen seconds later, his ball was in the water, and he looked flabbergasted at caddie Ted Scott.

For the second time in as many days, Scheffler had a double bogey, but this one came on the par-3 15th hole (more on that later) instead of the 18th. Nevertheless, as we’ve become accustomed to seeing with Scheffler, he bounced back in the biggest way.

Scheffler followed his double with birdies at Nos. 16 and 17, and he sits in a five-way tie for the lead at 9-under 201 after a 4-under 66 on Moving Day. His tee shot landed near the hole on the par-3 before spinning back, through the rough and into the water.

“It’s a horrendous break really,” Scheffler said. “There’s really just nothing else. I hit a great shot and the ball goes in the water. It’s not great, but it happens, it’s part of the game. So I could really kind of walk up there knowing that I hit a good shot and I just did my best to get it up and down.”

Scheffler had eight birdies on Saturday but matched that with two bogeys and a double. Yet the result at the end of the day is the same as it has been plenty in recent weeks, months and years: Scheffler is on top of the leaderboard.

Come Sunday, if he were to win the Houston Open, it would be his third straight win on the PGA Tour. The last person to do so was Dustin Johnson in 2017, and the last person to win three consecutive stroke-play events was Rory McIlroy in 2014.

However, Scheffler isn’t relying on what he has done in the past going into Sunday. He’s ready for the task ahead.

“Winning the last two doesn’t help me do anything tomorrow,” Scheffler said. “Yeah, stick to my process. I think it’s going to be another pretty challenging day out there with high winds. Stick to my process and control what I can control out there.”

Alejandro Tosti (ARG) drives off the second tee during the third round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Alejandro Tosti woke up during the night Saturday with a sharp pain in his left shoulder and neck.

He tried to take a shower to loosen the muscles. He rolled a golf ball on the shoulder. Nothing helped.

It’s why he seemed to struggle and grab at his shoulder numerous times Saturday during his 2-under 68, an impressive score considering the pain and stiffness affected every shot he hit.

“Just couldn’t do my backswing, couldn’t complete my backswing so I was just trying to get all
the power in my hands which created all the misses left, but I found a way to fight the round
and be able to finish under par after that bad start on the second hole,” Tosti said. “But I’m happy to have this opportunity for tomorrow.”

Tosti, a PGA Tour rookie, is one of the other four co-leaders with Scheffler, along with David Skinns, Stephan Jaeger and Thomas Detry. The common theme between the four? None of them have won on the PGA Tour.

The task ahead? Taking down Memorial Park Golf Course. And likely the world No. 1.

Skinns was a 54-hole co-leader last month at the Cognizant Classic, and he struggled late Sunday after a rain delay before playing strong Monday, but he couldn’t recover after a poor start. Tosti finished third on the Korn Ferry Tour standings last year and has the confidence of an adult at a little kid’s Easter egg hunt. Detry finished T-4 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this year, and Jaeger has also put himself into contention, finishing T-3 at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Scheffler will be the clear favorite come Sunday, and for good reason. But the four tied on top of the leaderboard, along with the three only a shot behind, aren’t going to make it easy because they want to write their stories.

Nick Dunlap of the United States hits a shot on the 17th hole during the third round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course on March 30, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Raj Mehta/Getty Images)

Nick Dunlap is slowly starting to get his feet under him.

Sort of.

The 20-year-old Tour rookie, who won as an amateur at the American Express in January, has had a whirlwind two months since turning pro in the middle of his sophomore year at Alabama, where he still resides on off weeks. His golf during the tumultuous time hasn’t been the best. But he has started to find his stride.

Dunlap shot a bogey-free 7-under 63 on Saturday to move himself into contention, and a conversation at dinner Friday night helped spark the second-lowest round of the week.

“We were at Cheesecake Factory with (my caddie) Hunter (Hamrick), we were going through the round saying, ‘OK, I could do this better, do this better,’” Dunlap said. “All I tried to do today was play perfect with what I had, not necessarily like perfect golf but getting the easy ones up and down, not three-putting. You’re not going to make every putt, and you’re not going to hit every wedge close, but from where I was trying to play a perfect round of golf and I feel like I did that.”

Dunlap was in the first group off Saturday morning, and he set an excellent pace. He’s finding his comfort zone as a pro, even if there are still things he’s learning.

“It’s still new and I still get lost and don’t know where to register and don’t know where dining is,” Dunlap said. “It obviously helps, today played alongside Gary and almost every week playing with either Scottie or Sam (Burns) in practice rounds, just being in their company has helped me.”

Tony Finau (USA) drives off the fifth tee during the third round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Speaking to Golf Channel’s Damon Hack after his round, defending Houston Open champion Finau said he was just a little bit off Saturday, even though he was swinging it well.

And a little bit off is enough to fall down a leaderboard.

Finau came into Saturday’s round leading by two, but he bogeyed the first hole and added two more before his first birdie of the day at the par-4 13th. A chip-in birdie on the par-4 16th after his approach found the water salvaged a 2-over 72, 10 shots worse than his course record-tying round on Friday.

Of the top 21 players on the leaderboard heading into Sunday’s final 18, Finau was the only player to shoot over par. He ranked first in Strokes Gained: Around the Green (3.094), but was 70th of 83 players on the putting surface (-3.008). He also lost 3.477 strokes approaching the greens, showing the inconsistency he battled with during the round.

He sits T-9 heading to Sunday, a chance to defend his title still well in reach. But he’ll need more of his Friday play to contend.

Akshay Bhatia of the United States hits a tee shot on the 15th hole during the third round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course on March 30, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)

The par-3 15th hole played only 121 yards during Saturday’s third round.

And it was the toughest hole on the course.

In the final two groups, no player found the green, and Scheffler and Finau both landed their balls near the putting surface but they rolled off into the water. Scheffler made a double and Finau carded a bogey.

Of the 83 players in the field, the hole played to an average of .4 shots over par. There were nine doubles or worse, more than every other hole on the course combined.

“That front pin, just falls off on all sides,” Skinns said. “That’s the idea when it’s a 125 shot, I think it was. And it’s a small tabletop. So my caddie, T and I, we talked about it on Tuesday, for this pin we’re hitting it long, we’re just not even looking at it. I did a good job of that today. The wind stalled up a little for me to make it a better shot than it probably was. Yeah, you walk away with 3 there, it’s a pretty good hole.”

For the week, it’s the third-hardest hole. A front-right pin location on a narrow sliver of green was the culprit Saturday. Add hitting into a breeze, and even the best in the world struggled.