Sepp Straka fired an 8-under, bogey-free 64 featuring eagles at the par-5s 6th and 15th to reach 17-under and take a one-shot lead at the Hero World Challenge.
He led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (5.879) and Strokes Gained: Around the Green (3.067) in round three.
“I played pretty nice. Front nine I felt like I didn’t really make any putts early on, but then the putter started feeling pretty nice around the turn,” said Straka.
“Honestly, similar to yesterday. Iron play was really good, I just struggled with the driver a little bit. Hopefully clean that up for tomorrow.”
The Austrian hit every fairway in regulation (13 of 13). He has accomplished the feat twice in official PGA Tour events (2025 The Players Championship/R2, 2025 Sentry/R3).
Straka joins Scottie Scheffler as the only players in the field with multiple victories on Tour this season (The American Express, Truist Championship).
American World Number 1 Scheffler made an eagle at the par-5 3rd as well as eight birdies and three bogeys for a 65, his 19th consecutive round of par or better at Albany, and moved up into second place at 16-under.
Scheffler leads the field with 19 birdies and Strokes Gained: Putting (6.220) through three rounds. He hit every fairway in regulation (13 of 13), a feat he has accomplished three times in official Tour events (2023 American Express/R3, 2021 American Express/R2, 2021 Sentry/R4).
He seeks to become the first player to win the Hero World Challenge in three consecutive years; Tiger Woods (2006-2007) and Viktor Hovland (2021-2022) are the only other players to win in back-to-back years.
Sweden’s Alex Noren eagled the par- 3rd and made five birdies and two bogeys for a 67 and a share of third place at 14-under.
2016 Hero World Challenge champion Hideki Matsuyama of Japan shares third place after carding a career-best front-nine 31 at Albany before making one more birdie and two bogeys for a 68.
Americans J.J. Spaun and Wyndham Clark who were part of the tie for the lead overnight, both carded 69s and moved down into T5 at 13-under. Clark made five birdies and two bogeys while Spaun made eight birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey at the par-3 8th.
The Hero World Challenge, an unofficial PGA Tour event played annually following the FedExCup Fall, is being played in the Bahamas for the 10th consecutive time, and 26th edition overall.
Eligible players for the Hero World Challenge are as follows:
• Defending champion of the Hero World Challenge
• Current year winners of The Players Championship, Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, US Open and The Open Championship
• Three sponsor exemptions restricted to players ranked among the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking as of Monday, Aug. 25
• To complete the field of 20 players, the top available players from the Official World Golf Ranking as of Monday Aug. 25
Related: Peter Broome interview
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sepp Straka | -17 | 66 | 69 | 64 | 199 |
| 2 | Scottie Scheffler | -16 | 66 | 69 | 65 | 200 |
| T3 | Alex Noren | -14 | 69 | 66 | 67 | 202 |
| T3 | Hideki Matsuyama | -14 | 68 | 66 | 68 | 202 |
| T5 | Wyndham Clark | -13 | 66 | 68 | 69 | 203 |
| T5 | J.J. Spaun | -13 | 66 | 68 | 69 | 203 |
| T7 | Justin Rose | -12 | 68 | 68 | 68 | 204 |
| T7 | Cameron Young | -12 | 70 | 64 | 70 | 204 |
| T9 | Sam Burns | -10 | 71 | 70 | 65 | 206 |
| T9 | Corey Conners | -10 | 67 | 70 | 69 | 206 |
| T9 | Harris English | -10 | 70 | 67 | 69 | 206 |
| T12 | Keegan Bradley | -8 | 67 | 72 | 69 | 208 |
| T12 | Billy Horschel | -8 | 71 | 68 | 69 | 208 |
| T12 | Akshay Bhatia | -8 | 66 | 68 | 74 | 208 |
| 15 | Robert MacIntyre | -7 | 73 | 67 | 69 | 209 |
| T16 | Brian Harman | -3 | 72 | 70 | 71 | 213 |
| T16 | Aaron Rai | -3 | 71 | 71 | 71 | 213 |
| T16 | Andrew Novak | -3 | 68 | 72 | 73 | 213 |
| 19 | Jordan Spieth | -1 | 72 | 73 | 70 | 215 |
| 20 | Chris Gotterup | +5 | 74 | 73 | 74 | 221 |
