Procore Championship Round 3: Ben Griffin Clings to the Lead as Scottie Scheffler Charges

Moving Day at Silverado came with a soundtrack. Somewhere behind the leaders, chants of "Scottie!" and "U-S-A!" kept rolling across the North Course, and Ben Griffin could hear every one of them.

Griffin shot a 2-under 70 on Saturday to reach 16-under 200 and hold a one-shot lead after three rounds of the Procore Championship. Amateur Jackson Koivun shot 68 and is alone in second at 15 under. Scottie Scheffler, eight shots back when the day began, fired an 8-under 64 and sits two back at 14 under. Garrick Higgo (66) is fourth at 13 under, and a group at 10 under includes Lanto Griffin and Austin Eckroat.

The Charge

Scheffler opened the week with a 70 that snapped his streak of rounds in the 60s and a Friday 68 that left him frustrated with his irons. Saturday was the correction, and it came fast.

He birdied Nos. 3, 4 and 5, the middle one set up by a 21-foot putt at the fourth. He saved par from a greenside bunker at the seventh with an 8-footer, then ran off birdies at 9, 10 and 11 and added another at 13 after an approach to 5 feet. Ten birdies in all. Scheffler led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and Strokes Gained: Total for the day despite hitting only seven of 14 fairways, which tells you how good the iron play was from imperfect spots.

"Hit a lot of greens, holed some putts," Scheffler said. That is about as close to bragging as he gets.

The Speed Bump at 14

It was not a clean card. On the par-4 14th, Scheffler drove it wayward, chunked a 90-yard approach short and watched a chip from the rough run away from him. Double bogey. "I just got a little bit greedy on the chip," Scheffler admitted.

The response was the round in miniature. He birdied the next hole, then stuck a 196-yard tee shot to 6 feet at the par-3 17th and birdied the par-5 18th for good measure. Six shots of an eight-shot deficit, gone in one round.

Scheffler arrived in Napa with five TOUR wins already this season, including the PGA Championship and The Open, but has never won a TOUR event in California. He is playing his first official fall event in three years and his first Procore, and he made his intentions clear. "If I go out and play good, consistent golf, I'm going to start moving my way up the leaderboard," he said, per the AP. Done.

Griffin Finally Blinks, Barely

For 53 holes, Griffin did not make a bogey. Three birdies kept him in front most of the day, and he played with the patience of a man who knew the leaderboard behind him was getting crowded.

The 54th hole finally cost him one. On the par-5 18th, Griffin found a fairway bunker, laid up, then came up short with his third from 127 yards. The chip ran through the green and the 46-foot comebacker missed. Bogey, and a three-shot lead over Scheffler became two, with Koivun one back.

Griffin was not rattled, and he was not pretending Scheffler did not exist either. "Not too worried about what he's going to do," Griffin said. "I've just got to play better than him. And if I do that tomorrow, should be able to lift the trophy." He added that everyone knows what Scheffler is capable of and that his job is to stay in front.

Griffin already owns two TOUR titles from 2025, the Zurich Classic with Andrew Novak and Colonial, and he will tee off Sunday with Ryder Cup teammate Scheffler lurking and a 20-year-old college junior right beside him.

The Kid Will Be in the Last Group

Koivun's day started badly. He three-putted the third and bogeyed the fourth to fall back. "Didn't have a great start, not the start I was looking for," Koivun said.

Then he got to the back nine and played it in 5 under. The headline was another eagle at the par-5 12th, his second in two days on that hole. This time he hit a 295-yard second shot to 40 feet and buried the putt, the PGA TOUR's Shot of the Day. He followed with a 19-foot birdie at the 14th. After the second bogey, Koivun said, the goal became 6 under the rest of the way. He got there.

Koivun will be the first amateur in a Sunday final group on TOUR since Nick Dunlap at The American Express in 2024. Dunlap won that week. Koivun said he knows Dunlap well and might want to go back and watch that final round.

Henley Slides, Higgo Climbs

Not everyone moved forward. Russell Henley started the day tied for second but shot 74 in the final pairing and dropped into a tie for ninth at 9 under, seven shots back.

Higgo went the other way. The South African's 66, keyed by a 195-yard tee shot to 6 feet at the 17th, moved Higgo to fourth. There is more than a trophy on the line for Higgo, who is No. 99 in the FedExCup standings with only the top 100 after the Fall keeping full TOUR status for next season.

Sunday in Napa

Griffin leads by one. Koivun is chasing history. Scheffler is two back and has the hottest hand on the property. Silverado has given up low numbers all week, and nobody inside four shots is out of it.

Catch up on the week in our Round 1 recap and Round 2 recap, and read our recap of the final round. Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 3 recap (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 3 recap, leaderboard and player features), AP, Golf Channel. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.