Round 3 in Memphis was phenomenal, as PGA Tour players moved up and down the FedEx St. Jude Championship leaderboard.
Hideki Matsuyama leads the field by five shots after a second straight 6-under 64 to sit at 17-under overall. In solo second is Nick Dunlap, who is at 12-under. Viktor Hovland is solo third at 11-under.
TPC Southland flexed its muscles a bit with the increased winds, which made things a lot more difficult for the players.
There is a stacked leaderboard with 18 holes to play, so let’s get into the three biggest takeaways from Day 3 at TPC Southwind.
3. Kevin Kisner is missing piece on NBC broadcast team
Kevin Kisner is a gem in the broadcast booth.
His quirky jokes and quick wit keep the other guys on their toes. Kisner brings such lightness to the broadcast team— it is good to see him back on the air for the first time since March.
He is still playing on the PGA Tour, but his personality is perfect for the NBC broadcast.
He, Smylie Kaufman, and Johnson Wagner bring a youthful vibe to this traditional sport, and they bring something fresh and new to the table.
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Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty
Golf television desperately needs someone witty and fun for the broadcast team.
Kisner is that guy, and hopefully, NBC does not fumble the bag and lose him.
One of his best lines of Moving Day had to be when he called Nick Dunlap a “shark with blood in the water.”
Kudos to the former Georgia Bulldog for giving the broadcast some life.
2. Viktor Hovland is beginning to trend in the right direction
Hovland’s game is far from perfect, but the consistency is slowly improving.
“A lot of the good swings — I’m seeing those more often,” Hovland said on Saturday. “The ball is starting to behave like I expect it to.”
“Even the misses, like some of the bad shots, I can feel that I’m still reverting to old habits, but the misses are way smaller than they used to be. Before, they would be off the planet, whereas now it’s manageable, and I can make a nice up-and-down or a long putt or whatever it is. It’s a lot easier to play golf when you see the dispersion pattern is starting to shrink.”
Through three rounds of play, he went 70-63-66.
Hovland led the field in SG off the tee on Saturday at +1.406. He was No. 2 in approach to the green (+3.712).
The Norweigan golfer was the only player to go bogey-free on Saturday and has one bogey in the last 36 holes.
Hovland could be trending in the right direction at the perfect time this season.
1. Nick Dunlap is scary good and could win third PGA Tour title
Nick Dunlap is an animal. Through 36 holes, he went 67-65-66. His 4-under 66 on Saturday vaulted him up the leaderboard to second place.
A finish like that will be huge for his career and could get him into the Tour Championship field.
However, second place is not what he is after — Dunlap is too hungry for that, and he wants another victory.
If he were to win on Sunday, it would mark his third PGA Tour victory. He won as an amateur at the American Express. Eventually, he won the Barracuda Championship. That second victory helped him get into the field in Memphis.
The former Alabama golfer is playing well enough to see Atlanta as a rookie. He and Hideki Matsuyama will play in the final group on Sunday, so if he can stay aggressive, the youngster could write his name in the history books again.
Dunlap should be defending his U.S. Amateur title but is in contention for a third win in less than eight months instead.
The FedEx St. Jude Championship should see one incredible final round on Sunday with the stacked leaderboard it has.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.
