Schauffele overcomes 4-shot deficit to take lead into final round at Players Championship

Xander Schauffele erased a four-shot deficit Saturday with another bogey-free round on a course where trouble is around every corner, capping off a 7-under 65 with a superb chip to save par and take a one-shot lead into the final round of The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, who had a four-shot lead at the start and stretched it to five with a birdie on the opening hole, did well to make sure the deficit wasn't greater.

They were tied going to the island green on the par-3 17th. Clark hit it so clunky that his wedge shot came up some 15 yards short of land. But he hit the next one to seven feet and escaped with bogey, and then saved par on the 18th for a 70.

For a short time on a balmy afternoon, it looked like The Players could turn into a two-man race between Clark and Schauffele. But there were enough birdies, enough bold shots and big rallies, to suddenly make Sunday filled with possibilities.

Schauffele was at 17-under 199.

Maverick McNealy and former U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick each had a 68 and were four shots behind, each with a share of brilliance and blunders.

Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world coping with a neck pain this week, kept alive his chances of becoming the first back-to-back winner in 50 years of the PGA Tour's premier championship. He birdied his last three holes for his 26th straight round under par this year, a 68, that left him in range at five shots behind. He was joined by Sahith Theegala (67).

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., is the top Canadian at 7 under and tied for 24th. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., who started the day four shots off the lead, is tied for 29th at 6 under, and Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, Ont., is