Tommy Fleetwood will take a one shot lead into the final round of the FedEx St Jude Championship in his latest bid to end his PGA Tour hoodoo.
Fleetwood carded a nervy third round of 69 to reach fourteen-under-par and he is ahead of his fellow Englishman Justin Rose but world number one Scottie Scheffler lurks in third place on twelve-under.
Fleetwood started well with a birdie at the second but double bogeyed the par-5 3rd. He steadied the ship with birdies on the fifth and ninth but a bogey on the seventh saw him turn in 35.
As Rose and Scheffler made inroads on his lead, Fleetwood picked up birdies on the 12th and 16th but bogeyed the last for the second day in a row.
Fleetwood recently suffered a heartbreaking loss to Keegan Bradley on the PGA TOUR but he insists he will keep knocking on the winners door and at some stage it will open for him.
“It’s just another opportunity for me to go out and try and have the best round of golf I can, enjoy being in that position,” Fleetwood told the PGA Tour website.
“The more I put myself there, the more chance there is of it happening, and just go out and keep learning from every experience.
“It might be my day, it might not, but being there is the most important thing and I’ll continue to try and do that.”
Fleetwood’s double bogey on the third wasn’t without controversy. His second shot came up short and into the water. He took his penalty drop and then hit wedge over the green into a bunker. Fleetwood said he noticed his golf ball move ever so slightly on his swing with the wedge.
Rules officials studied the video and determined that if it moved — they couldn’t determine if it did because it was so slight — Fleetwood didn’t cause it and no penalty was issued. He made double bogey, and Rose ran off three straight birdies to take the lead.
“The third was just such a kerfuffle and such a mess,” he said. “It was not that bad of a second shot, but it’s obviously a terrible shot if it’s in the water. From there, drop, sort of felt like the ball had moved when I hit it, thinned it over the back, just made a double for nothing really.”
Fleetwood will be joined in the final group by his Ryder Cup teammate Rose who fired a round of 67 while Scheffler will play with US Open champion JJ Spaun who lurks on eleven-under.
Shane Lowry is on two-over after a round of 71.
