Theegala maintains lead Heading into Final Round, Ryder’s Ace on 16th Sends Roar Across the Golf World

Sahith Theegala retains his lead after Saturday’s third round even after carding a double bogey on his second hole of the day. He recovered with birdies on six, seven and nine but lost another stroke with a bogey on 11. The Sponsor Exemption has the outright lead going into Sunday’s final round, with hopes to be the first Sponsor Exemption to win the WM Phoenix Open.

Playing alongside Theegala, defending champion Brooks Koepka finished with a three-under 68 thanks to six birdies to offset a trio of bogeys to finish 13-under – one shot off the pace. Scottie Scheffler had the best round of the day (9-under 62) to jump up more than 40 spots and tie for the third spot at 12 under with Patrick Cantlay, Talor Gooch and Xander Schauffele.

But the shot of the day came from Sam Ryder, who carded a hole-in-one on the iconic 16th hole in front of 17,000 screaming fans. Ryder’s tee shot took three hops and a hard spin left before falling into the cup making him the 10th person to card an ace on the world’s most famous golf hole since 1987 when the tournament moved to TPC Scottsdale. The last hole-in-one on 16 came from Fracesco Molinari in 2015. After the ace, the crowd went wild and sent showers into the sky in celebration. Don’t worry, the WM Phoenix Open volunteer staff put the cans to their next-best use.

Watch Sam Ryder’s Hole In One

Players, caddies, volunteers fans covered TPC Scottsdale in green for Waste Management’s 12th-annual GREEN OUT day to show support for WM’s commitment to environmental sustainability. In total, The Thunderbirds donated $56,666 to three environmentally focused charities –  Change the Course, Waste Not and The Arizona Recycling Coalition.

Sunday will bring another warm, sunny day to TPC Scottsdale as the WM Phoenix Open enters its final round with the action beginning at 9:04 a.m. with leaders Theegala, Koepka and Scheffler teeing off at 11:05 a.m. Click below to see complete final-round pairings and tee times.

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