Tour Championship 2021 R3
September 02-05
East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia
Round 1, Round 2, Round 4

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Patrick Cantlay closed with a 25-foot birdie putt to take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Tour Championship.

Tour Championship 2021 R3

Cantlay was 4-under for the day through the 10th before three bogeys and a single birdie over the next six holes led to him being 2-under at the 17th. He closed with a 67 for a 20-under total.

"I thought I rolled the ball on the greens just as good as the last couple days, and my speed was good, and a few putts went in today which was nice. So I feel like I'm in a good spot going into tomorrow, and that putt on 18 put the momentum in the right direction."

Tour Championship 2021 R3

Jon Rahm fired three birdies and a bogey to close with a 68.

"Not my best. Great off the tee, I must say. Man, hitting it really good off the tee. Just wasn't as sharp as I wanted to be with my irons.

Tour Championship 2021 R3

"It was one of those days where there was a lot of in-between numbers, right. It was just I don't think it happened once today, a perfect stock number, no doubt about it. There was a lot of three-quarters and finessing around, and certain holes I just played a little bit more conservative, and didn't give myself the best chances to make putts, right.

"I felt like I had a lot of putts between 20 and 30 feet today and with the hole locations we had, it's not like it was the easiest putts. But I hung in there, gave myself a couple chances down the stretch. Too bad I couldn't make one of the putts, but still a good round within what it is, right. This golf course is not easy. So with what I had, I posted a good score and I'm in a good spot for tomorrow."

Tour Championship 2021 R3

Justin Thomas started the competition six shots behind according to his position in the FedEx Cup standing. He has narrowed the gap and lies in third place three shots behind Rahm after rounds of 67-67-65. He was 6-under for the day through the 17th and could have narrowed it down further but pulled his final tee shot and closed with a bogey at the 18th.

"I gained some shots on the leaders today, and that's what's most important. I think I was four back going into Sunday at The Players, or maybe a little bit closer, I'm not sure. But I know I've won from four behind before, so hopefully Pat will par 18 for me and not do anything crazy.

Tour Championship 2021 R3

"The thing that I have going for me is Jon has been playing just ridiculously good golf for a really long time, and he's shown he's going to keep playing well, and Patrick has been playing really well.

But I don't feel like those guys have had a bad round yet. They continue to play well. Obviously I can't bank on them having a bad day. I just have to keep plugging along and doing my job."

Rory McIlroy, who was tied in tenth place after the second round, made four birdies, seven bogeys and a double bogey to close with a 74 and drops back into a share of 17th at 4-under.

Tour Championship 2021 R3