Shooting 67 will give you a leg up most weeks on the PGA Tour, but Saturday at the CIMB Classic it meant Xander Schauffele was bringing up the rear.
The reigning Rookie of the Year started the day one shot back at TPC Kuala Lumpur, but playing alongside Pat Perez and Sung Kang he ended up losing ground to Perez despite an effort that included four birdies and an eagle.
“Went up against a 64 and a 65 today,” Schauffele told reporters. “So I was the hack of the group today, but happy with how I played.”
CIMB Classic: Articles, photos and videos
Full-field scores from the CIMB Classic
The 65 belonged to Kang, while the 64 came from Perez who now holds a four-shot lead over Schauffele and five over Kang. The trio will play together again during the final round, where Schauffele looks to win for the third time since July.
Perez seemingly has a strong grip on the top spot, and Schauffele plans to do plenty of leaderboard watching in an effort to catch the 54-hole leader. But months removed from fighting for his Tour card, Schauffele isn’t overly concerned with his position in Malaysia as he closes in on another hefty paycheck still with hopes of adding a new trophy to his fast-growing collection.
“It’s fun. You would much rather have the group chasing forward up the leaderboard than kind of stagnant,” Schauffele said. “So it’s all good. You know, watching both those guys make putts is always a good thing visually for me.”
Source: Internet
