Hovland takes command of his game and the FedEx Cup race

Hovland sustained his forward momentum in the FedEx Cup playoffs when most of his marquee challengers stalled out in the heat on Saturday, as the 25-year-old Norwegian shot a 66 to open up a six-shot lead with one round remaining in the PGA Tour season.

A week after winning the BMW Championship, Hovland hasn’t slowed down and climbed to 20-under at East Lake to put himself on the brink of winning the FedEx Cup and the US $18 million bonus that comes with it. Xander Schauffele is second at 14-under, with Collin Morikawa and Keegan Bradley tied third at 13-under with Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Wyndham Clark in fifth nine shots behind Hovland at 11-under.

Rory McIlroy shot 1-over 71 on Saturday and is tied eighth at 9-under par. The 71 snapped a streak of 30 consecutive PGA Tour rounds of par or better dating back to June 4 in the final round of the Memorial.

“Obviously it's maybe not a marathon, but it feels more like a sprint,” said Hovland. “Obviously it's a marathon getting into this week. But it's hard to win the FedExCup if you haven't played well the last few weeks.” 

Hovland couldn’t recall the last time he held a six-shot 54-hole lead not playing this consistently well round after round.

“I don't think I've ever played this well before, with this stretch, just putting all the short game and stuff together,” he said. “I've certainly hit the ball this good before. I feel like I've hit the ball better than I have this week and even last week. But it's just about putting it all together and it seemed like the good weeks that I've had before I've always managed to short-side myself or chip a couple times and end up out of contention. 

"But the last few weeks, even this year, I feel like I've just become a little bit more complete, and I don't have to hit it my best to be in contention. I don't have to hit every shot pure. I can miss it slightly and get up-and-down and move on.” 

Morikawa was keeping up with Hovland until a double bogey on the fifth hole marred his card and he couldn’t get back in gear, dropping two more shots at 10 and 11 before finally making his only birdie of the day on 16.

Schauffele, who consistently plays well every year at East Lake, made an early move with three front-nine birdies to get within a shot of Hovland but couldn’t sustain it as Hovland pulled away.

“Not good enough,” Schauffele said of his 2-under 68. “Shoot, I missed two short putts coming in there on 15 and 18 right there. I look up at the board and if I made those two like I normally would, I still wouldn't have gained anything on the leader. So not good enough.” 

McIlroy trailed by six in the final round to Scheffler a year ago and rallied to win. But Schauffele doesn’t see any margin for error the way Hovland has taken command of his game and the FedEx Cup race.

“I know what I need to do. I need to go out and try and put as much pressure on him tomorrow on that front nine as I can and hope for the best,” Schauffele said. “He's just playing unbelievable golf. He's been working really hard. I saw him working hard through the playoffs there. I was out late and he was one of the guys I always saw until dark as well. So, no surprise.” 

Though he still has 18 more holes to play, Hovland has a chance to appreciate what he has the opportunity to finish Sunday.

“It's just a great list of names that's won the tournament,” he said. “It would be awesome to have my name on there.” 

Should Hovland win, he would be the third non-American 25 years old or younger to win three PGA Tour events in the same season in the last 40 years, joining McIlroy (2012 and 2014) and Hideki Matsuyama (2017).

While McIlroy lost ground on his quest to win a fourth FedEx Cup, his ailing back seemed better and his speed improved, illustrated by a 393-yard drive on the 14th hole that was 37 yards longer than anyone else in the field.

The highlight of McIlroy’s day was an encounter with former NBA star Charles Barkley. During the conversation, Barkley told McIlroy “Good luck at the Ryder Cup.” 

“You mean that? You really mean that?” Rory asked the American Dream Teamer.

“Hey, I don’t pull for teams. I pull for players,” Barkley answered.