Thirty-six hole leader J.J. Spaun played well enough on Saturday to keep his lead at the St. Jude Classic — barely.
Span, who got his first PGA Tour win this year at the Texas Open, shot 68 at TPC Southwinds and stood alone at 13-under par after Sepp Straka missed a nine-footer for par at the 18th that dropped him back to 12-under.
But the talking heads are all saying that Open champion Cam Smith is the man to beat on Sunday as he trails the leader by just two shots, as does Will Zalatoris, who is still hunting that elusive first win. Trey Mullinax made it a trio at 11-under.
Stakes are high starting this week as FedEx points are quadrupled — meaning 2,000 to the winner.
There’s also a tournament within the tournament as guys like Troy Merritt are trying to make it to East Lake for the first time. There’s a sense of urgency with many players left after the cut who are playing to make the top 70 and win the right to play in next week’s second stop in Delaware.
