(Reuters) – Xander Schauffele held a share of the lead midway through his final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas on Sunday where a number of the game’s top players were on the leaderboard and hot on his heels.
Schauffele, who began the day at Colonial Country Club one shot clear of a tightly-packed leaderboard, mixed two birdies with a bogey through nine holes to sit level with fellow American Collin Morikawa at 14 under for the week.
The tournament is the PGA Tour’s first since play was halted in mid-March because of the COVID-19 outbreak and is being played without spectators to prevent the spread of the virus.
Bryson DeChambeau, through 13 holes, was one shot off the pace while former Masters champion Bubba Watson (17 holes), world number four Justin Thomas (nine holes), Britain’s Justin Rose (12 holes) and reigning U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland (nine holes) were all a further shot adrift.
Three-times major champion Jordan Spieth, who began the day one shot back of Schauffele, birdied the fourth hole but then carded three bogeys over the next four holes to drop to 11 under for the week after 10 holes.
World number one Rory McIlroy began the day three shots off the lead but quickly played himself out of contention as he went six-over on a disastrous front nine and was nine shots back of the leaders through 13 holes.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis)
