Keegan Bradley (-12) takes solo lead after Round 3 at the BMW Championship | CBS Sports

the penultimate round in the penultimate event of the PGA tour season. Keegan Bradley rolling one in dead weight at the last for a solo lead at 13 under. It appeared to be Adam Scott's tournament to lose. While he welcomed the field back into it with a two over 74. It will be a final pairing, something out of 2014 with Bradley and Scott comprising that final group. As you take a look, one clear of Scott at that 12 under number is Bradley giving chase. Also Ludvig Aberg following a one under 71 on a day that didn't quarter to many here scoring coming at a premium a mile high. CBS sports golf analyst and host of the First Cut podcast, Rick Damon joining us now Rick, it was an interesting day, no doubt about it. Before we get to some of the names. Talk to me about the scoring because the scoring average nearly two strokes off of what we saw on Friday, more similar to what we saw on Thursday was this setup, was this condition what led to this sort of test? Yeah, this was a lot of fun. There was excitement out there. There were plenty of birdies. There were plenty of bogeys, and there were plenty of doubles. So here's here's the thing, Joe. We got a lot more wind in the third round than we did in the second round. And the number of variables that these guys are now dealing with is, is breaking their brains a little bit. Right. We're already playing at 6200ft of altitude. That's part of the calculation. This course itself has about a 400 foot difference in elevatio. That is something they have to factor in. You throw the wind into the mix and if you miss by just a little bit, you're you're finding your ball out of bounds. You're finding your ball in a water hazard. There's just a lot of things in play, and you have to get all of them right to make a birdie or to post a good score out here in Colorado this week. So some of those guys were able to take advantage of it, and others were putting big numbers on the scorecards. Breaking my brain a bit. Here is our final pairing. I raised my hand as someone who pulls for both of these guys, but we're talking about the oldest in the field and the last in the field. Going to be our final pairing come Sunday. And Adam Scott and Keegan Bradley, this is something out of the 20 teens. I mean, if you go back once he was the number one player in the world, but I found the intersection point for you. I know this is your type of stuff. Keegan Bradley Adam Scott, 10th in the world, second in the world. In September of 2013, more than a decade later, we'll get them in a final pairing. Let's assess Adam Scott's day first, because it was a jarring start, loses his first ball and then one in the water at the third as well. How was he able to right the ship and keep this thing respectable and stay in that conversation? Heading towards Sunday? Yeah, respectable is a really good word for it because this thing got ugly quickly. He enters the day with a multiple shot lead and hits his first tee shot of the day out of bounds. After being in complete control of his game throughout the week. And then it gets worse from there. Joe. He makes a double on three. A bogey on four, and you're thinking that, you know Adam Scott is about to eject himself from this tournament, but that's where the savvy nature of his game comes into play. That's why he's such a professional. He's such a veteran here, is that he can sit down and say, okay, Mid-round, let's let's right this ship. Let's keep the ball in play off the tee. We'll start making some putts eventually. He didn't make a ton of putts, but he made just enough to get this thing in the house at at only two over par. And I think when he goes to bed tonight, you know, he's a smart enough guy and he has been through enough of these events to know that the work that he did in the first two rounds kind of offsets a little bit that that bad round that he had today. So he's got an opportunity to just reset again on Sunday morning or Sunday afternoon, considering his his tee time and go out and still apply pressure and win this golf tournament. So it was definitely survival of the fittest out there for Adam Scott. I enjoyed your take on the First Cut podcast a day ago. The man who claimed putting is never the problem showed us that yeah, maybe on this day putting was in fact the problem. We'd all die for that ball striking. But a testament to longevity here. No doubt about it. 31st in the world right now, 22nd in the world will be our leader in Keegan Bradley and it's really been nothing but good vibes for Keegan since the moment he took that Ryder Cup captain ship. It really underlines all we're going to see over the next year for Bradley, and we do have a Presidents Cup out in front of us. That has gotten all the more interesting here with his current state of play. This is as our colleague Shane Bacon likes to call it, a bit of a psycho scorecard. I mean, he was winning them then he was losing them. He was giving them away. He was taking them back. It was an up and down day here for Keegs. How does this project into a winning moment, let's say on Sunday a bit, Joe, this is a full on psycho scorecard. This is just for pars. He had not only a stretch of three birdies in a row, but he also had a stretch of three bogeys in a row during this round. And that's kind of not only the nature of this golf course but but Keegan Bradley in the last couple of months in terms of his game. But you're right. I mean the storyline for Keegan, it will not end on Sunday at the BMW Championship because he might play himself on to the Presidents Cup team. He is going to be a huge story all of next year as he's the Ryder Cup captain, of course, and if he wins this event, if he is able to pull it off, he's going to thrust himself into the throngs of a very competitive Fedex Cup finale next week. And I think that this golf course and we've talked about this a little bit already this week, is really good for ball strikers. It's really good for total drivers. It's really good for guys that can just make enough putts, and that is what Keegan has done this week. I'm not sure that Eastlake is as good of a setup for him, especially since the changes that have been made since last year. But don't worry about that. You've got to get there first. He was last man in 50th in this field, and now he might wake up in a couple of days and be very much in the mix for $25 million first place prize. What a world it is in today's day and age of golf. Now best positioning will likely belong to Scottie Scheffler. If not Xander Schauffele. Mathematically, he could get there if he does walk away with the win on Sunday. Still a few back, but second best round of the day on the golf course after a bit of an inauspicious start to the day here, as we take a look at the scorecard, a double there at number three, but then gave one back at six. From that point it was really just slow and steady opportunity and then opportunity executed upon here by Xander. I'm not going to ask you if he could win it on Sunday. We know he's capable of doing that, but how much does next week inform what you expect to see out of Xander? Is this the type of guy you think just stays in the moment? Tries to stack yet another victory on top of what could be the best season of anybody playing golf this year? As crazy as it is to say, yeah, it's a little bit weird. Xander is in a in a spot where he can he can benefit and move up to first in the Fedex Cup standings, but he's almost certainly going to be second and he's not going to drop back from that. So I think what he's trying to do is make sure that he has really great form heading into next week. That's that's the big one, right? That's the opportunity to steal away a season from from Scottie Scheffler, become a Fedex Cup champion. And this round that we saw on Saturday is a really good indication of why the best players are the best. You know, just over 36, 54, 72 holes, a thousand holes. They're going to get you. They're going to get you eventually. And when he went out through his first six holes, he was something like 13 shots off the lead. But you just keep piling up opportunities. Eventually they are going to fall. And by the time he posted his round, it just it just aged every hour. Seemed like it was getting better and better and better. He was moving up the board as those afternoon guys in the late tee times really started to struggle. So yeah, it's probably unlikely that Xander wins this golf tournament, but I don't think that that is his biggest goal. He just wants to be in great shape for next week. Sign me up for Schauffele and Scheffler on a Sunday in Atlanta for maybe not just that 25 million, but the Nicklaus Award. A player of the year type conversation on the line. We'll let you have it on the first cut podcast. One further question before a pick here, Rick. And that is who do you have your eyes on come Sunday? Right around that 30 line. What is the mover you're looking for? Is only the top 30 will make it to Eastlake. Yeah, Joe, that's right behind the two guys at the top. The Swedes are coming. Ludvig is there, Alex Noren is there. And the latter, Noren is the guy that I'm most intrigued with. He's had a very good year, one of the best years that we've seen from him in quite a long time. But you look at his positioning. He entered the week 45th in the Fedex Cup standings, and as he sits right now, he would punch his ticket to Eastlake. He would start next week in 22nd. But you're going to see his rounds almost every single stroke, every time he holds out, whether it's for a birdie par or bogey, he's probably going to have some pretty drastic changes in his in his finishing or excuse me, in his Fedex Cup position. So he is one guy that he's told us he is a leaderboard watcher. He is going to know his position not only in the BMW Championship, but in the Fedex Cup standings. All day long. So adds another bit of pressure, another layer into the mix here. So Alex Noren will be aware and I'll be watching how aware he is. Leaderboard watching is always fun, especially when it's multiple leaderboards. We'll see if Alex Noren can focus on the task at hand. The putts were falling on the second nine here on Saturday. But Rick, the question is who do the putts fall for come Sunday? Your winner in Colorado at the BMW. I mean you shake your head because these first three days can't have us feeling too good about anybody. It's changed day by day. Who ends up winning here at the BMW? Yeah, I hate it. Joe, I just told you that Xander Schauffele probably won't win this golf tournament, but I'm going to take the. The guy that I just said can't win. And it's Xander here. And here's the reason why. Firstly he can go out a little bit earlier without pressure. And we've seen him go out and shoot unbelievable rounds this year, this week, whatever it takes, he has the firepower to get there. And as this day rolls on, as these guys who have not necessarily won a lot of golf tournaments in recent years, they've got to play a lot of difficult holes with a lot of landmines out there. And the big problem that I have, Joe the big pickle that I have, is that Xander Schauffele was my pre-tournament pick and I can't really diverge at this point. He's too close to the top of the board. There's still enough hope there. My hope has to be crushed to go to somebody else. So I'm sticking with X here, hoping that he can mount one of his magical comebacks. Rick Gaiman, known for a diversified portfolio but pushing all his chips in here on Xander Schauffele. He did on Wednesday. He does again here on Saturday night. A man of honor. Rick, we appreciate you as always. And don't forget the conversation. Always continues on the First Cut podcast. Rick Gaiman hosting Kyle Porter and the whole gang, taking you under the ropes and into the action each and every week on tour, putting your thrilling