know, let alone in a normal tournament, but especially a major and i would say really ever in my career. reporter: wyndham clark is co-leading the way with fowler. fowler had such a big influence on clark. clark had his first pga tour victory last month. he is another player also seeking his first career major. he s been speaking very emotionally this week about the memory of his dear beloved mother who passed away ten years ago but said he s inspired this father s day sunday by his father. randall clark, a former professional tennis player. he said he ll be doing it for him and what a moment it would be if they could celebrate together later on this day. alex, your timing just impeccable because rory mcilroy is just walking that way. he s come out to fine-tune his game. he s going to be a threat this afternoon, you would think. along with scottie scheffler as well, another powerhouse name from the united states. back to you. that seems like a safe bet. what a thrilling tournament.
a year ago his ranking plummeted to about 185 in the word. this is the former world number four player. but i ve been out on the course these last couple of days an the passion and the energy that the thousands of fans have been displaying on his behalf is a joy to behold and that in itself will be huge encouragement for fowler himself. i do wonder how he ll handle the heat of the battle. the heat of the competition. this is the first time he s had the lead or a share of the lead through 54 holes going into the final round of a major. now after his third round on saturday, i asked him what would it mean to him to finally win that illusive first career major? take a listen to his response. after, you know, going the last few years i m not scared to fail. i ve dealt with that. so we re just going to go have fun and continue to try to execute and leave it all out there and see where we stand on 18. this is the best i ve felt, you
so many people taking stock of it. the last ten days for the sport of golf. we have player reaction, certainly, in the build-up, jon rahm saying he felt a certain sense of betrayal. rory mcilroy, we ll get to him in a moment. he was front and center over a year ago. one of the fiercest critics of the liv golf circuit. that was before news of the commercial entity announcement. more on what mcilroy had to say a little bit later. i do want to get to rickie fowler. he is seeking a first career major. what a story it would be if he could get the job done. he was ranked fourth in the world. then a year ago, it plummeted to 185. he s in a good place right now and he s just teed off playing
with windham clark. i asked him to talk about the past couple years for him. i sure hope everyone can relate to struggles. everyone deals with them. in one is perfect. i think you would be lying if you haven t been through a tough time. especially if you play golf. i m looking forward to the weekend. it s been a while since i ve felt this good. a tournament, let alone a major. it will be a challenge but i m definitely looking forward to it. reporter: jim, i was out on the course on friday and the energy and the buzz surrounding all things rickie fowler, a joy to behold. people are absolutely rooting for him. they want to see him go on after all these been through and get that first career major. rory mcilroy, it has been nine
you mentioned scottie scheffler. we have to talk scottie scheffler. what an impact. he s leading the way. he had a five-shot advantage after round two. he s the current men s world number one. the 25-year-old with a five-shot lead going into today s round. but that advantage now reduced to just the three shots after a third round 71 on saturday. now scheffler had a standout year, no question about it. a few weeks ago he had no u.s. pga tour victories to his name, now he has three but wants the coveted green jacket. he want his breakthrough first ever career major. can he get it done? on the last hole minutes ago here at augusta national, when he puts his drive into the woods, he has to end up with a bogey on that hole. but he still leads the way. let s reflect on it all, come with me as i bring in our guest, the golf expert, golf digest dan rappaport. let s start with scheffler. to what extent do you feel he