ATLANTA (AP) — By the time Patrick Cantlay wrapped up his fourth birdie in the last five holes for a 6-under 64 to take the lead, and Tommy Fleetwood dried himself off from a double bogey with a pair of birdies for a 67 to catch him, the Tour Championship was left with tantalizing possibilities.
At stake on the final day of the season was the FedEx Cup.
And the Ryder Cup.
There was Fleetwood, embracing yet another chance to get his first PGA Tour title. There was Scottie Scheffler, who wins all the time.
And right in the thick of it was Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, one of five Americans among the top nine players at East Lake under consideration for a captain’s pick.
As if he hasn’t been weighing this possibility enough already, Bradley registered for the tournament next to a room celebrating the 1963 matches at East Lake. There was the bag of Arnold Palmer, the last one to be a playing captain.
“It was really weird looking at it,” Bradley said Saturday after a 63, which he called his best round of the year. “Like really strange. Because I’m nowhere in the world of Arnold Palmer and somehow I’m in this with him right now.”
Saturday was plenty entertaining, even on a dreary day when rain was never far away.
Fleetwood seized control with four straight birdies early, only to lose the lead when a 6-iron in the water on the 220-yard 15th hole, where the back tee and peninsula green added to 10 shots in the water — eight more than the opening two rounds combined.
As he crouched to read his bogey putt, a video board in front of him showed him he was about to lose his lead — unaware Cantlay was about to bury a bending, 25-foot birdie on the 17th.
“It was just one bad swing on a very tough hole and that’s what can happen,” Fleetwood said.
He responded by hitting pitching wedge from a bunker to 12 feet for birdie and wedge to 9 feet for a birdie on the next, allowing him to catch Cantlay at 16-under 194.
They were two shots ahead of Henley, who birdied the 18th for a 69.
Fleetwood endured a two-shot swing on the final hole to Bradley that cost him at the Travelers Championship. He lost a two-shot lead with three to play at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. This is his third time with at least a share of the 54-hole lead in his last six events.
All he wanted was another chance, and this is another great one.
“That’s what everybody wants,” Fleetwood said. “I am lucky enough that I get to be one of those guys, so I’m having the time of my life out there and I’m playing great and I’ve got to enjoy it while it’s happening. You never know.
“Tomorrow might be my time, it might not, but I’ll still have a great time doing it.”
Cantlay looked to be all business dressed in black and wielding the control off the tee and a reliable putter that has made him such a consistent threat over the years. He began working with putting guru Phil Kenyon a few weeks ago, mainly on setup, trying to get an edge.
It appears to be working. His low round of the year coming into East Lake had been 65. He has shot 64 twice in three days.
“It’s nice to close the way I did, especially the last two days,” Cantlay said. “I’m pleased with where I’m at.”
Cantlay, winless in three years might have assured his spot at Bethpage Black. Even at 15th in the Ryder Cup standings, he was seen as logical choice given how he performed under pressure in Rome and at the Presidents Cup last year in Montreal.
Now he has a chance to win the FedEx Cup for the second time.
“It’s always nice to have your game shape up at the end of the year, but like I said, I’m focused 100% on this week, and we’ll worry about the Ryder Cup a little later,” he said.
Scheffler was so frustrated with putts he felt he slightly misread that he tossed his putter at his bag after missing an 8-foot birdie try on the 16th. He had missed two other birdie chances from slightly closer. He still shot 66, his 20th consecutive round under par.
He was four back, same as he was last week when he won the BMW Championship.
“Felt like another frustrating day,” Scheffler said. “I felt like I did some things well out there. I was just a little bit off on my reads most of the day. I hit some good putts that just didn’t fall. Overall, I didn’t shoot myself out of the tournament, which making bogeys around this place can very easily do that.
“Proud of the turnaround,” he said. “But man, I wish I could have gotten a little bit more out of the round.”
Cameron Young, had a 71 and was in sixth place as he makes his Ryder Cup case. One shot behind were Ben Griffin and Sam Burns, also under Ryder Cup consideration.
Sunday is for the FedEx Cup and the $10 million prize, a chance for Scheffler to become the first repeat FedEx Cup champion, for Fleetwood to finally get that first PGA Tour title, for Bradley to make it virtually impossible not to pick himself.
“I’m either going to win or I’m not and we’re going to know the picks,” Bradley said. “We’re pretty confident with the picks that we have. One more day of golf to kind of finalize this whole thing, and I can’t wait. I’m done with this whole process. I want it over with either way.”
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