At Wells Fargo, Xander Schauffele in position for revenge, but Rory McIlroy is closing

Xander Schauffele will sleep on the lead after three rounds of play at the Wells Fargo Championship, and he’ll have plenty to think about.

Schauffele shot a 1-under-par 70 Saturday at Quail Hollow but lost three strokes off the four-shot lead he began the day with. He leads World No. 2 Rory McIlroy by one shot.

Schauffele had to battle to stay under par Saturday, hitting some pretty bunker shots and saving a few pars with some deft putting.

McIlroy, close to his “A” game, shot a bogey-free round of 67, despite missing a couple of easy birdie opportunities.

“I’m going to have to earn it tomorrow,” Schauffele said. “I’ve got Rory breathing down my neck. I’ll look at the leaderboard here shortly, but yeah, I think if I strike the ball the way I did today off the tee and just a little more focus coming into the greens, picking the spots and then going through my process a little better, (I) should be in a good shape.”

A year ago, Schauffele played in the final group with eventual champion Wyndham Clark in the final two rounds and finished second.

Now, he’s led the tournament all week — since shooting a 7-under 64 on Thursday — and is in position to win after having a 36-hole lead for the third time in his career. He’s been 2-of-7 previously when trying to close.

To win Sunday, Schauffele said he will have to play better than he did on Saturday, a round he described like this:

“Not as clean. Some sleepy wedges in there unfortunately,” he said. “Some really good up-and-downs, kind of a mixed bag. Definitely made it harder on myself is what it felt like from being in some good spots in the fairway.”

Rory, relaxed and carefree

A few moments after blasting a 5-wood on the 14th tee, Rory McIroy strolled down the fairway and took a moment to chat with CBS Sports’ announcers Jim Nantz and Trevor Immelman on national TV.

The Northern Irishman seemed relaxed and carefree, even right in the heat of battle.

McIlroy talked about celebrating 13 of his past 15 birthdays in Charlotte and about how much he likes Quail Hollow and how comfortable he is on this somewhat diabolical golf course.

Then the World No. 2 took a white Apple Air Pod out of his right ear and chipped his ball to within a couple of feet of the hole. Next he rolled it in for birdie and stayed one shot back of Schauffele.

McIlroy ended up with his second straight bogey-free round. Now he’s in position to win this event for the fourth time. McIlroy won in 2010, 2015 and ‘21.

“Yeah, I think I’ve held out pretty well for the most part inside six feet,” he said, “and then I think because I know this golf course so well, I’ve missed it in the right spots when I have missed the green. To play two rounds in a row on this golf course in these conditions bogey free is a bit of a feather in my cap, I’m pretty proud of that.”

Straka goes low

On a day when scoring was tough, Sepp Straka shot a 4-under 67 to improve to 7-under for the tournament. Straka made four birdies on his final six holes, including the difficult 18th.

Straka has two career wins, but just one top 10 finish this year.

That could change Sunday after he played so well on Moving Day.

“It’s a hard golf course, I really don’t even know,” Straka said. “I know I made some key putts out there to kind of keep the round going. I drove the ball really well, I hit a lot of fairways, put myself in a good position a lot. And yeah, iron play was solid. It’s hard to get the ball really close to these pin locations with the firm greens. (I was) very happy with the round.”

Carpet savers at Quail Hollow

This year at the Wells Fargo Championship, tournament officials have debuted a new type of carpet, provided by Mohawk Industries, that’s 100% PET-recycled. That will allow the carpets to be recycled and reused at future events.

This week’s event is the first one on the PGA Tour to use the recycled carpet in all hospitality areas and it saves 22 tons of carpet from going into landfills. Four years ago, Wells Fargo tournament officials hired consultant to recommend sustainable options for the tournament moving forward.

“When we learned about the Mohawk product, it was an easy decision to install in our hospitality areas throughout the course,” said Tony Schuster, director of operations at the Wells Fargo Championship. “We’re thrilled that the Wells Fargo Championship is the first PGA Tour tournament to use this product.”

How to watch Sunday’s final round

Sunday’s final round: 7:15 a.m.-6 p.m. (ESPN+, PGA Tour Live), 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)

Sunday’s weather

The final round will be played under mostly sunny skies. The high temperature is expected to be 78 degrees, which will be between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. There is no rain in the forecast.

Wells Fargo leaderboard

Sunday’s Tee Times