Ben Griffin shot a steady 2-under-par 70 to maintain the lead through the third round of the Procure Championship, but Scottie Scheffler made a big move up the leaderboard Saturday at Napa, Calif.
Griffin produced a clean round until a bogey on the last hole to go into Sunday with a one-shot advantage on amateur Jackson Koivun, an Auburn University golfer, on Silverado Resort’s North Course. Koivun shot 68.
Griffin is at 16-under 200. Scheffler shot 64 to climb to 14 under.
The opening event in the PGA Tour’s fall tournament schedule is stocked with U.S. Ryder Cup golfers in their final competitive tune-up before that event in less than two weeks.
Scheffler’s effort marked the best score of the round, moving up from 14th place at the beginning of the day. He racked up 10 birdies with five on each side, but a double-bogey on the par-4 14th hole that included a misfired chip into a sand trap was costly.
Yet he responded with birdies on three of the final four holes.
Koivun responded from two early bogeys, boosted by a five-hole stretch at 5 under that included an eagle on the par-5 12th.
South Africa’s Garrick Higgo (66) is in fourth place at 13 under. Austin Eckroat (68), Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes (69) and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (69) are all at 10 under.
Behind Scheffler, Higgo and Troy Merritt had the day’s second-best round with 66. Merritt’s strong third round puts him at 7 under for the tournament.
