Scottie Scheffler might be cruising to victory at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson but even being in such a dominant position comes with its own worries.
Scheffler is eight clear of the field and honing in on a first win on the PGA Tour in 2025 after seeing Rory McIlroy dominate so far.
After carding rounds of 61 then 63 Scheffler put himself into the 36 hole record books. However, he followed up with another round of 66 on Saturday to sit eight clear of Erik van Rooyen.
Barring a complete meltdown, Scheffler will win.
However, after having to finish his round in near complete darkness at TPC Craig Ranch, Scheffler admitted he was starting to get a bit worried.
Scottie Scheffler explains why he was desperate to finish his third round at the Byron Nelson
With darkness falling in Texas, Scheffler was facing a question mark on getting his third round completed.
In the end, Scheffler teed off on 18 and got the job done but the world number one admitted that he had been thinking heavily about it and the impact on his final round had he not finished.
“I think, if we were going to come back, come back pretty early in the morning. I think even if finishing 18 would have cost me a shot, I think it would have saved me a shot tomorrow based on energy, not having to come out here early and wait five hours or so to tee off.
“Once they gave us the go-ahead to finish, I was definitely very anxious to finish.”
Scheffler then added further context to playing in poor light, but admitted it was something he was used to from growing up.
“I couldn’t see very well, but I finished in the dark many times growing up. It’s not that big of a deal,” Scheffler continued.
“I saw the ball take off. After that, I was just kind of waiting to see what happened. I saw it take off the way I wanted it to. But after that, I couldn’t see that far. Really, I’d say the most challenging part was reading a green, I think, in the dark is probably the most challenging.”
Scottie Scheffler looking to become first since Tiger Woods to convert eight shot lead as world number one
Scottie Scheffler is one of those players who takes things in his stride and is no stranger to breaking records on the PGA Tour.
His 2024 season saw him hit all kinds of milestones and going into round four of the Byron Nelson, he’s on course to match Tiger Woods.
In a stat shared by Justin Ray, Scheffler can become only the second current world number one to take an eight shot lead into the final round of a PGA Tour event and win.
If, somehow, Scheffler has a meltdown in Texas, then the other side of this is it going down as one of the biggest throw aways in history.
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