Xander Schauffele's impressive 'under par' run at East Lake might pose a challenge for Viktor Hovland
The Tour Championship is nearing its end with Xander Schauffele being 6 stroke deficit of the 54-hole leader Viktor Hovland. But for the American golfer, the win isn't inevitable yet, if the latter struggles in the final round at East Lake Golf Course.
In last year's edition of the same tournament, Scottie Scheffler was leading with a similar six-stroke margin against Rory McIlroy after the first three rounds. However, the current World No. 1 had a forgettable fourth round of 3 over 73 to finally lose to McIlroy, who shot a Xander Schauffle 66 to win his third FedEx Cup title.
Xander Schauffele would hope for something similar at the East Lake Golf Course on Sunday. If Viktor Hovland has a very bad outing in the final round of the Tour Championship and Schauffele grabs that opportunity to get a low score, he might get his hands on the first-ever FedEx Cup trophy.
It is noteworthy that Hovland is having a fantastic form. Just last week at the BMW Championship, he shot the lowest course record score of 9 under 61 to cherish his best-ever victory on the PGA Tour.
Meanwhile, the PGA Tour shared a stat of Xander Schauffele that in the 27 starts at the East Lake Golf Course, the American has never crossed the mark of 70 score, in fact, reached par score only three times.
"He's just playing unbelievable golf" - Xander Schauffele praises the Tour Championship leader Viktor Hovland
The seven-time PGA Tour tile winner is eying on his first win in the 2022-23 season. With his average of 67.148 at East Lake, Schauffele will be confident of pulling out something incredible to cover the six-stroke lead against the Norwegian golfer.
After completing the third round of the Tour Championship, Xander Schauffele spoke with the media. While speaking of Viktor Hovland's brilliance, he praised him and was quoted by the Golf Digest as saying:
"He's just playing unbelievable golf. He's been working really hard. I saw him working hard through the playoffs there. I was out late and he was one of the guys I always saw until dark as well. So, no surprise."
Schauffele scored a blistering second round of 6 under 64 on Friday to gain momentum heading into the weekend's play. Later on Saturday, he shot a 2 under 68 to jump to solo second spot on the Tour Championship leaderboard.
He spoke about his plans for the fourth and final round at the East Lake Golf Club. The American added by saying:
"I know what I need to do. I need to go out and try and put as much pressure on him tomorrow on that front nine as I can and hope for the best."
Xander Schauffele is paired with Viktor Hovland for the final round of the Tour Championship. The duo is scheduled to tee off at 1:40 p.m. ET.