After 54 holes of play at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, Stewart Cink (69), Rafa Cabrera Bello (65), and Ben Crane (68) share the lead at 9-under-par.
Chad Campbell and Luke List are a stroke back, tied for fourth, at 8-under par, after posting matching 4-under 66s.
Recent Valero winner, Kevin Chappell (68), is tied for sixth with Matt Jones (69) and 36-hole co-leader Chez Reavi (72) at 7-under-par.
Defending champion Daniel Berger fired a 4-under 66 on Saturday to move 25 spots up the leaderboard at TPC Southwind, and into the top-10. Berger shares the ninth spot with David Hearn (67) and Meen Whee Kim (69) at 6 under.
Charl Schwartzel, another 36-hole co-leader, posted a 4-over 74 in round three, and is one of nine players tied at 5-under-par, along with first round co-leader Matt Every (71) and Phil Mickelson (69).
Brooks Koepka and Adam Scott headline a group of ten players at 4-under, and five back of the lead.
Top 10
T1 Stewart Cink -9
T1 Rafa Cabrera Bello -9
T1 Ben Crane -9
T4 Chad Campbell -8
T4 Luke List -8
T6 Kevin Chappell -7
T6 Matt Jones -7
T6 Chez Reavi -7
T9 Daniel Berger -6
T9 David Hearn -6
T9 Meen Whee Kim -6
54-Hole Leader Notes
- Since moving to TPC Southwind in 1989, the third-round leader/co-leader of the FedEx St. Jude Classic has been able to convert for victory 15 times, including the last three champions. A year ago, Daniel Berger turned a three-shot lead into a three-stroke victory.
- Through 29 stroke-play events on the PGA Tour this season, 10 players have parlayed a 54-hole lead/co-lead into victory. Most recently, Kevin Chappell achieved this feat at the Valero Texas Open.
- The last time three players were tied for the 54-hole lead at the FedEx St. Jude Classic was in 2012 when Davis Love III, John Merrick and Nick O’Hern were tied at 204. Dustin Johnson came back from T4 to win.
- This marks Rafa Cabrera Bello’s second lead/co-lead after any round on the PGA Tour. In his only other lead, he shared the top spot in the first round of the 2016 Wyndham Championship, where he went on to finish T5.
- A four-time international winner, Cabrera Bello is in search of his first career win on the PGA Tour.
- Stewart Cink, the first-round co-leader who started the third round one shot off the lead, posted a 1-under 69 in the third round to take his 12th 54-hole lead/co-lead. He most recently co-led after 54 holes at the 2013 Shell Houston Open (T6).
- Cink is in search of his seventh career PGA Tour title in his 533rd start on Tour. His last win came at the 2009 Open Championship, his lone major title.
- This marks Ben Crane’s third 54-hole lead/co-lead on the PGA Tour. The last time he held a 54-hole lead was when he went on to win the 2014 FedEx St. Jude Classic wire-to-wire.
- Crane is not in the field for next week’s U.S. Open and a win in Memphis will not guarantee a spot.
Video Highlights
Quotable
“It’s a moment you don’t really get to experience that often, even if you’ve played on the tour for 21 years. This may only happen a handful of times. Maybe a few more. So it’s a really sweet feeling.”
–Stewart Cink
Leaderboard
[table id=307 /]Credit/Sources: Getty Images, PGA Tour
