2023 AT&T Byron Nelson leaderboard, scores: Scottie Scheffler slips in Round 3, trails leaders by two

Scheffler heads into Sunday's final round behind leaders Ryan Palmer, Austin Eckroat and Marty Dou

As easy as the first two days of the 2023 AT&T Bryon Nelson were for Scottie Scheffler, the third was equally as difficult. Commanding the 36-hole lead after back-to-back rounds of 64, the native Texan signed for an even-par 71 on Saturday to stand at 14 under and two strokes off the pace set by Ryan Palmer, Austin Eckroat and Marty Dou heading into the final 18 at TPC Craig Ranch.

Scheffler's third round began in peculiar fashion as the ever-steady right-hander carded two bogeys in his opening four holes to drop to 12 under. Scheffler surrendered the lead to fellow Texan Ryan Palmer before three birdies over his next five holes saw him pull even with his training partner as the final threesome made the turn.

Ho-hum pars became his friend as TPC Craig Ranch began to bake out with consistent Texas winds and heat beating down on the golf course. As Scheffler found his ball-striking groove, so did his playing competitors out in front as Eckroat rode 10 birdies to an 8-under 63 and Dou birdied four of his final six holes to reach 16 under.

A birdie on the accessible 18th would have seen Scheffler tie the clubhouse lead and secure his position in the final group on Sunday, but instead the local favorite made a fatal mistake. Leaving his second shot at his feet in the fairway bunker, Scheffler went on to card a closing bogey and will instead play the chaser role in Sunday's final round.

Englishman Tyrrell Hatton entered his name into the equation when he carded four birdies in his final five holes to post a 6-under 65 and reach 13 under while Australian Jason Day and South Korean Si Woo Kim would do one better and get to 14 under. In total, 14 players find themselves within four strokes of the lead in what is sure to be an electric final day outside Dallas..

The leaders

1. Ryan Palmer, Austin Eckroat, Marty Dou (-16)

Scheffler was always going to find his way into contention, but the same cannot be said of the three leaders. Palmer entered the week 184th in the FedEx Cup standings, Dou at 164 and Eckroat at 137. While Scheffler, Hatton, Day and Kim will attempt to chase these three men down and garner some momentum ahead of the second major championship of the year, the leaders are just hoping for some job security in form of a victory and much-needed FedEx Cup points. 

"It would be awesome," Eckroat said of possibly winning. "I mean, a lot of job security. I'm outside the top 125 right now in the FedExCup. A lot of things come with winning a PGA Tour event, and just hoping to get that done."

Other contenders

T4. Scottie Scheffler, Vincent Norrman, Jason Day, Si Woo Kim (-14)
T8. Patton Kizzire, Tyrrell Hatton, Sung Kang, Richy Werenski (-13)
T12. Sean O'Hair, C.T. Pan, Carson Young (-12)

While Scheffler's play has taken the spotlight and Day has been impressive in 2023, Hatton still feels slightly disrespected. Finishing in a flurry at the Players Championship, the Englishman has been playing like a top 10 player in the world over the last three months. He put together legitimate contention runs at difficult golf courses such as Bay Hill and Quail Hollow and has continued to flash this quality in Texas. While he may not have enough firepower to track down Scheffler over the final 18 holes, Hatton should love his chances next week at the PGA Championship where his ability to grind out par will serve him well.

"It's mad that that was a bogey-free round," Hatton said. "Holed some nice par putts on the front nine. Really didn't feel comfortable with my swing today, which I feel like my last sort of 12 holes yesterday I found something again and hit it really nice. I tried to take that feeling into today, and, yeah, just felt like a bit of a struggle. Holing par putts kind of kept me in it, and then I had a nice up and down on 14. Then, yeah, really nice finish where I hit some nice shots coming in. But 6-under is quite a flattering score certainly with how it felt for me anyway."

Scheffler's run contextualized

The Texan will go for his seventh victory in his last 31 starts which would equate to a 22.58% rate. A ridiculous figure to comprehend, keep in mind that from 1996-2019 Tiger Woods won 82 times in 359 starts which narrowly clips Scheffler's potential mark at 22.84%.

2023 AT&T Byron Nelson updated odds and picks

Odds via Caesars Sportsbook

• Scottie Scheffler: 3-1
• Ryan Palmer: 4-1
• Austin Eckroat: 7-1
• Jason Day: 7-1
• Marty Dou: 7-1
• Si Woo Kim: 10-1
• Tyrrell Hatton: 12-1
• Vincent Norrman: 18-1

Scheffler seems like a bargain just two strokes back and at a price similar to that at the beginning of the week. He putted the ball quite poorly on Saturday as he did not hole a putt from outside seven feet all day. Scheffler should be able to track down the nervy final group if that club chooses to cooperate. If not Scheffler, Kim at 10-1 may be the play. His iron play flashed some life in the third round and a breakout performance could be in his future.

Mark Immelman and Patrick McDonald break down moving day at the 2023 AT&T Byron Nelson. It's storylines, scorecards and betting favorites with three tied at the top in Texas.

[May 13, 2023 at 5:11 pm ET · Patrick McDonald]

Final group heads to rowdy Ranch 17

A birdie from Ryan Palmer has gotten him to 15 under and one off the lead of Austin Eckroat and Marty Dou. He and Scottie Scheffler will look to grab at least one more over the final two holes if not two depending on their tee shots on the devilish par 3.

[May 13, 2023 at 4:52 pm ET · Patrick McDonald]

Dou matches Eckroat

There are now two in the house at 16 under as Marty Dou has matched Austin Eckroat. This performance has come out of the blue as Dou has been dreadful this season. He plays out of TPC Craig Ranch and sometimes a home game is all these guys need to get out of a funk.

[May 13, 2023 at 4:32 pm ET · Patrick McDonald]

Eckroat signs for 8-under 63

It is the round of the day thus for the young buck. Austin Eckroat gets to 16 under and holds the clubhouse lead as Scottie Scheffler finds himself at 15 under with four holes to play. The 24-year-old began the week ranked 137th in the FedEx Cup Standings. Tomorrow will be massive for his career.

[May 13, 2023 at 4:10 pm ET · Patrick McDonald]

Austin Eckroat joins Scheffler

The former OSU Cowboy has reached 15 under with a birdie on the short par-3 17th. Eckroat has honestly been playing pretty poorly in the 2022-23 season, but a return to the South appears to have done him some well. He will aim to get to 16 under with a birdie on the par-5 18th as Scheffler still has three good birdies chances ahead of him.