Adam Scott enters the final round three shots off the lead with a chance to win the Tour Championship 20 years after his first victory.
Adam Scott has been on the PGA Tour long enough to have won this tournament during George W. Bush's second term. On Sunday, he'll have a chance to win it again.
Scott fired a 5-under 65 on Saturday at East Lake, moving to 12-under and into a tie for third, three shots behind Viktor Hovland. The oldest player in the 30-man field, older than Justin Rose by just 14 days, has played his way squarely into contention heading into the final round of the PGA Tour season.
The numbers surrounding a potential victory are remarkable. Scott won the Tour Championship in 2006, meaning a win Sunday would come two full decades after his first. He would also become the oldest player ever to capture the event at age 46, breaking the record Tiger Woods set in 2018 at age 42. It would be his first PGA Tour victory since 2020.
"I think I can stick with my game plan of being fairly conservative, at least for the front nine," Scott said about his game plan for Sunday. "And if I can execute that, then maybe I've got to start flag hunting a little bit and being a little bit more aggressive than I have been. But I'll try and play that by ear when I'm out there. It's fun to be in the mix for the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup."
Part of that plan will involve some scoreboard watching as well.
"I think I need to kind of keep an eye on it because if I'm a couple back and they come out hot, I better get moving," he said. "I can't wait until the back nine to make up six shots."
He may need to do exactly that. Hovland closed his round by making six consecutive putts from 7 feet or longer, reaching 15-under and taking a one-shot lead over Tour Championship newcomer Ryan Gerard, who played bogey-free for a 66.
Scott shares third with Scottie Scheffler and Chris Gotterup, who have combined for five PGA Tour titles this year, along with Ludvig Åberg, who also shot a 65 while chasing his first win of the season. Rory McIlroy posted a 63 to climb within five shots of the lead.
Scott, who has played more editions of this event than almost anyone in the field, could not remember a leaderboard this tightly packed. He offered a few theories as to why.
"There are a few anomalies this week," he said. "There's been a lot of pars on holes, more than normal, I think. I don't know why. I think maybe the greens are softer than they have been because maybe they're maturing. Normally we see a few bad scores out here, and we really haven't seen that because East Lake can be tough."
He expects the test to sharpen on Sunday.
"It was set up for scoring today," Scott said, anticipating tougher pin positions in the final round. "We might see some variance. I think that'll be fun."
