MEMPHIS, TN. — Lucas Glover won’t do much scoreboard-watching until his final nine holes on Sunday. Taylor Moore will be keeping tabs on Glover and everyone else trying to win the PGA Tour’s first FedEx Cup playoff event Sunday.
The two golfers sit atop the leaderboard heading into Sunday’s final round in Memphis. Behind them is a slew of golf’s biggest names with far more notoriety than them. Glover is 14 under and Moore sits one shot behind him in second place.
Of the 10 golfers who are five shots within Glover’s lead, all are ranked in the top 35 in the world golf rankings at the moment. Glover and Moore are both outside the top 50.
“They’re coming,” Glover said. “The best players in the world are right behind me. We’ll see where we stand on the turn, maybe. I won’t have too much interest until late.”
Moore is confident. He hasn’t had one round where he’s gotten hot or had an unusually good day thus far in this tournament. He shot 66 in each of the first two rounds and finished with a 65 on Saturday.
“Really pleased with my start,” Moore said. “Looking forward to being in the final group tomorrow with Lucas.”
Glover is trying to keep things in perspective. This isn’t a usual position for the 43-year-old, but he’s playing some of his best golf over the past month or so.
Just a week ago, Glover secured his first win in two years at the Wyndham Championship. He’s projected to jump up to third in the FedEx Cup Playoff standings if he were to win at TPC Southwind Sunday. The uptick in performance has even raised his standards.
Glover called his day “scrappy,” and admitted that in some parts of his performance, you can “remove the ‘s.’ ”
“Three months ago if you told me I’d be mad at 66, I would have told you that you’re crazy, so splitting hairs,” Glover said, “but it was a little bit of smoke and mirrors today.”
Tommy Fleetwood, Max Homa, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy are among the group of golfers sitting within striking distance.
Moore and Glover have been consistent, but the course could play differently with Sunday expected to be the hottest day of the tournament. The temperature is expected to be as high as 96 degrees.
Glover, drenched in sweat after Saturday’s round to the point that his white polo shirt almost looked gray, is confident he can finish strong. He noted that he’s been “knocking on the door” before he won last week, and now he’s in position to secure one of the biggest wins of his career.
“Just hydrate, rest and come out guns blazing,” said Glover, who won the U.S. Open in 2009. “There’s going to be some birdies tomorrow. Everybody is coming after the same thing, so you got to be ready.”