Scottie Scheffler made the most of Saturday at Riviera, continuing his steady recovery after a sluggish start to the Genesis Invitational earlier in the week.
He opened with a three-over 74 on Thursday, but followed it up with a 68 on Friday and then went even lower with a five-under 66 in the third round.
This week, Riviera has been playing tricky for everyone, with soft yet quick greens making scoring difficult across the board.
Scheffler has also had trouble getting going early in tournaments over the past few weeks. This slow start is becoming something of a pattern.
But whatever has been holding him back early in tournaments has not affected how he plays from Friday onwards. He has looked much sharper once he settles into the event.
Riviera has been tough on Scheffler this week, but despite that, he still has an outside shot at breaking into the top 10 by Sunday evening.
Scottie Scheffler reflects on Riviera after firing third-round 66
The world number one fired just a single bogey in his five-under-par round, making six birdies and 11 pars to push himself up the Genesis leaderboard.
Although it was a solid round overall, he will know there were chances missed out there.
Scheffler has spoken before about finding Riviera a bit strange, and when asked if it felt any different this time around, he gave an honest answer.
“At times, yeah, maybe a little bit, but then at times it still felt weird,” the world number one said.
“No, I played solid today. The golf course is gettable in the morning, the greens are fresher. So I was able to hole a few putts, which is key.
“I don’t necessarily know what else to say.”
He added: “Yeah, I mean, if you’re going to go out early, I was glad to get a tee time this morning, get out early and see what I can do.
“Obviously I wanted to shoot a little bit lower, but overall 5-under is pretty solid.”
Scottie Scheffler is back in form at Riviera
Scheffler has always found it difficult to putt on Poa annua greens, and that has been no different this week at Riviera.
However, there was a noticeable improvement in his performance on Saturday, ranking second in strokes gained putting for the third round.
Scheffler gained 2.187 strokes on the field with his putting during the third round of the Genesis Invitational. That is a solid number, especially given how tough these greens have played.
This week at Riviera, the greens are as soft as you are likely to see them.
But even so, lagging 20-30 footers close has not been easy due to their pace.
If Scheffler wants another top-10 finish, he will need to stay hot with the putter. As for winning? It is a long shot.
Still, he has what it takes to go low – perhaps even around 61 – and if he does, anything could happen from there.
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