WILMINGTON, Del. — Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele went from being teammates to close friends and now seem to be inseparable on the PGA Tour, so the final group on the final day of the BMW Championship might have the feel of one of their countless practice rounds.
Except for the stakes, that is.
Cantlay holed out from 106 yards in the fairway on the par-5 14th hole at Wilmington Country Club and shot a 6-under-par 65 on Saturday despite twice missing three-foot par putts. That gave him a one-stroke lead over Schauffele and Scott Stallings, who each shot a 66, going into the final round of the penultimate FedEx Cup playoff event.
Schauffele had an eagle with an approach shot to five feet on the par-5 third hole, an early highlight in a bogey-free round.
Sunday will mark the sixth time in eight career FedEx Cup playoff events the pair of Southern California natives have played together, and it will be the second time this year they have played in the final group. Schauffele led by one after 54 holes at the Travelers Championship in June and shot a 68 to win. Cantlay turned in a 76 and had to share 13th place.
They also won the Zurich Classic Of New Orleans as partners in April.
Their typical practice round is match play of some variety, winner take all. Their next 18 holes together could determine who goes to the Tour Championship — which tees off Thursday at Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club — as the No. 1 seed and starts the chase for the FedEx Cup with a two-shot advantage.
That also depends on Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, who shot a 68 and joined 36-hole leader Adam Scott (69) of Australia in the tie for fourth.
They were two shots behind Cantlay, who was at 12-under 201 and is trying to become the first back-to-back winner of the BMW Championship since it became part of the FedEx Cup playoffs in 2007.
He knows from experience the value of being a top seed at the Tour Championship. After his playoff win in the BMW Championship last year at Caves Valley near Baltimore, he had a two-shot lead at the start of the season finale and wound up winning by one shot to earn the $18 million prize.
"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."
And there's another reason. This is far from a two-man show on the South Course, which has been baked by the sun and is becoming faster by the day.
Scott, trying to work his way into the top 30 who reach the Tour Championship, held his own Saturday. He started the postseason at No. 77 and is coming off a tie for fifth last weekend at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis just to make it to Delaware.
Scheffler, No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, followed back-to-back bogeys with a four-foot birdie to close his round.
Collin Morikawa (65) and Aaron Wise (67) made it seven players separated by three shots, with Canada's Corey Conners (70) and Chile's Joaquin Niemann (68) tied for eighth at 8 under.
The group another shot behind included two-time FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy, who started slowly and could only manage a 70. Jordan Spieth, who began the weekend just one shot behind, missed par putts of three feet and two feet and didn't have much else go right in his round of 74 that took him out of contention.
Chattanooga native Keith Mitchell (70), who entered the tournament outside the top 30 in the standings, was tied for 34th at 3 under. Fellow Baylor School graduate Luke List (69), who also needed a good tourney to advance to Atlanta, was tied for 56th at 2 over.
Cantlay and Schauffele became fast friends at the 2019 Presidents Cup in Australia and now take vacations together, along with playing countless practice rounds. It's different with a scorecard in hand, though the comfort level is obvious.
"I know how he hits the ball, he knows how I hit the ball," Schauffele said. "If I flush one or he flushes one, it sort of is extra information that we can use. 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."
Give this round to Cantlay, though just barely.
Schauffele was leading when Cantlay missed a three-foot par putt — he also missed one from a little closer on the 17th — and after they matched two-putt birdies on the 12th, Cantlay holed a birdie putt from eight feet on the 13th and then spun back a lob wedge for an eagle at the 14th.
That put him in the lead, and after the shocker of a short miss for par, he finished with another lob wedge shot that expertly used a backstop and rolled down to eight feet for birdie.
Delaware has never hosted a PGA Tour event, so this is new for everyone. That explains why Cantlay with a wedge in hand was walking to the front of every green to see the slopes and find the best play. It worked on the 14th for his eagle, and on the 18th for his birdie.
Stallings has plenty at stake on Sunday, too. He came into the BMW Championship at No. 46 in the standings and now is clearly within range of playing one more week.
"That was my No. 1 goal to start the year," Stallings said.
This is his 12th year on the PGA Tour and the closest he has ever been to the Tour Championship.