WILMINGTON, Del. – Patty Ice sure warms up for the BMW Championship.

A year ago, Patrick Cantlay needed six extra holes at Caves Valley to claim the title en route to winning the FedEx Cup. New course – Wilmington Country Club’s South Course is this year’s host venue – but through 54 holes, it’s still the Patty Ice Show. He’s on the verge of becoming the first player to successfully defend a FedEx Cup Playoffs event.

Cantlay holed out a lob wedge from 108 yards for eagle at the par-5 14^th hole to jump into the lead and birdied 18 to shoot 6-under 65 for a one-stroke lead over Xander Schauffele and Scott Stallings.

Cantlay reeled in three birdies on his front nine but took three putts from 32 feet at 11 for his first bogey. He bounced back with consecutive birdies before his eagle heroics. At 14, Cantlay walked to the green and visualized his third shot to the front-hole location, flighted the ball perfectly and it spun back into the hole. The crowd went wild.

“It was downwind and just got lucky and fed off the slope perfect, right in,” he said.

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On 17, Cantlay made another miscue with the putter, missing his first putt of the season from 3 feet or less. According to stat maven Justin Ray, Cantlay was the second player all season to shoot 65 or less despite missing three putts from inside 5 feet (Scott Brown at the 3M Open was the other).

“The greens are a little beat up and it probably wasn’t a good stroke, so I’ll go take care of that after the round, practice a little bit,” he said. “It’s very unlike me, and things like that happen.”

But Cantlay didn’t let the bogey spoil his round. He nearly spun another lob wedge into the hole at 18. This one sucked back and stopped 8 feet past the hole. Cantlay was dialed in, leading the field in proximity to the hole during the third round, averaging 25 feet, six inches. For good measure, he canned the putt to regain the solo lead and tied for the low round of the day (with three other players).

“I thought a little past and to the left it would come back off that slope,” he said. “The only thing I was concerned about was spinning it too much coming back down the slope.”

Cantlay, 30, won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with Schauffele as his partner, but hasn’t won an individual title since going back-to-back at the BMW and Tour Championship last year. He’s in position to repeat at the BMW and be in the driver’s seat for the FedEx Cup title; no player has ever defended that title.

“You know, my head is not even there right now,” Cantlay said. “I think the best way to handle this playoff system is to just focus on doing your best in the tournament that you’re in and not worry too much about the points. So that’s what I’m going to do.”

Comfortable pairing

Xander Schauffele misses a putt for birdie on the 15th green during the third round of the BMW Championship golf tournament. (Photo: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports)

Bosom buddies Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are getting to spend plenty of time together this week. On Sunday, they will play in the final group, meaning they will have played all four rounds together. They wouldn’t have it any other way.

Ever since bonding at the 2019 Presidents Cup, the duo have been regular practice-round partners on most Tuesdays, usually playing matches with bragging rights on the line. However, they skipped the formality of a match at Wilmington Country Club.

“This is a special week. It’s a new course for us, so we just decided that we’ll just learn the course,” Schauffele said. “So it was a very quiet week in competition for us and our practice.”

Schauffele outdueled Cantlay on a Sunday when it mattered earlier this summer, winning the Travelers Championship as Cantlay struggled to find his game.

“It’s just a comfortable pairing,” Schauffele said. “We’ve played so much together, with each other and against each other, that I can club off him…I like to use that as an advantage, and we’re good friends, so it’s a very sort of easygoing pairing even though we’re trying to beat each other.”

This leaderboard is lit

Scottie Scheffler plays his shot from the third tee during the third round of the BMW Championship golf tournament. (Photo: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports)

Jimmy Walker – the actor, not the golfer – would know how to describe the leaderboard at the BMW Championship: Dyno-Mite.

Cantlay will have to stave off a leaderboard that is stacked with big names. Schauffele is one back and attempting to hoist a trophy for the fourth time in his last 10 starts, and also tie Scottie Scheffler with four titles this season. Schauffele is tied with Scott Stallings, who shot 66, and will try to crash the party, qualify for the Tour Championship for the first time in his career and win for the first time since 2014. Two back are reigning Masters champion Scheffler (68), who is trying to regain the FedEx Cup points lead and claim his fifth title of the season, and former Masters champion Adam Scott (69), who is bidding for his first win since 2020.

Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa has rediscovered his fade and fired a 65 on Saturday to improve to 9 under and trails by only three strokes. Rory McIlroy managed only 70 on Saturday but is still in striking distance five strokes back.

FedEx Cup leader WDs with injury

Last Sunday, Will Zalatoris won his first PGA Tour title in a playoff, breaking into tears on the green as he achieved a childhood dream. This Sunday will be quite different. The 26-year-old Wake Forest product likely will be getting treatment on his back, which he injured Saturday while hitting a drive on the third hole. He battled on for another hole, received some treatment to the injured area on the fifth tee, but decided to withdraw from the tournament. He will earn zero FedEx Cup points and is projected to drop to third in the point standings. For more on the story, click here.

Who's in, Who's Out of Tour Championship (Projected)

We’re one round away from crowning a champion as well as determining who’s in, who’s out of the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings. After 54 holes, here’s a look at who is on the bubble for qualifying for the Tour Championship at East Lake next week:

Theegala improved to 30th, the bubble spot, after a 69 on Saturday. It was his 53rd round in the 60s this season, most of any player on Tour. He is one of four players, who started the week on the outside looking in who is projected to advance to East Lake.

Players projected to move into the top 30

Players projected to move out of top 30

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Story originally appeared on GolfWeek