Xander Schauffele will begin Sunday’s final round of the WM Phoenix Open four shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler.
The deficit, however, could’ve been more if not for a fortunate ruling during Saturday’s third round at TPC Scottsdale, where Schauffele’s tee ball at the par-5 13th hole ended up against a tree trunk before a second opinion by a rules official allowed Schauffele to take free relief and turn a likely bogey into a birdie.
“Schauffele had the ball right back up against that palo verde tree, and it was against a root, but he was standing in a burrowing animal hole, so did a whole lot of lobbying with a first rules official and was denied,” CBS on-course reporter Mark Immelman said on the broadcast.