Major champs Martin Kaymer and Adam Scott chase win at Jack’s place

Two-time major champion Martin Kaymer, without a win on the PGA Tour in five years, holds a two-shot lead over Adam Scott going into Sunday’s final round of the Memorial Tournament

Martin Kaymer usually saves his best golf for the biggest tournaments, so it comes as no surprise he’s putting on a show for the game’s biggest champion.

Kaymer shot a bogey-free, six-under round of 66 on Saturday at Muirfield Village and will take a two-shot lead into the final round of Jack Nicklaus’ event, the Memorial Tournament.

Kaymer began the round in a three-way tie for the lead and got off to a quick start with two birdies on the front-nine. At the par-four 13th, he holed a left-to-right big breaking putt from 38 feet for birdie, then made a 16-footer at the par-three 16th for his fourth birdie on the back-nine. He finished the round at 15-under, two ahead of Adam Scott.

This kind of form was something no one saw coming from the 34-year-old German coming into the week. Kaymer ranks 128th on the PGA Tour this season in strokes gained: putting; this week he leads the field and has missed just one putt from inside 15 feet. The two-time major champion hasn’t won since the U.S. Open in 2014. His last top-10 finish came at the Honda Classic two years ago. Since his win at Pinehurst five years ago he has just four top-10s on the PGA Tour. His best result this season was a tie for 33rd. The former No. 1 ranked player in the world has now fallen to 186th and in danger of losing his PGA Tour status after this year.

Kaymer, though, knows how to rise to the occasion in big events. His three PGA Tour wins include two major championships, the PGA Championship in 2010 and the U.S. Open and the Players Championship. With his first win in five years now within his grasp, Kaymer says he’s going to keep the same mindset that he had on Saturday.

“I said to my caddie today on the range a very true thing. It doesn’t really matter if you’re 60th and play 18 holes or if you lead the tournament and play 18 holes. The 18 holes don’t change,” he told CBS after his round. “So that will probably be my same attitude tomorrow.”

Like Kaymer, former major champion Scott is also locked in a lengthy winless drought. He hasn’t won on tour in three years, since the 2016 WGC-Cadillac Championship. Unlike Kaymer, though, Scott has played solidly throughout 2019. He was runner-up at the Farmers Insurance Open in January and has four top-10 finishes, including at the PGA Championship two weeks ago. Since his last win the Australian has 16 top-10s.

Scott matched Kaymer’s 66 on Saturday, making three straight birdies on the front-nine and four more, including at the closing 18th hole, on the back-nine to finish at 13-under. He took advantage of the par-fives at Muirfield, making birdie on all four of them during the round.

Hideki Matsuyama, the 2014 Memorial champion, Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay are tied for third at 11-under, four back of Kaymer. Spieth, who went 18 straight tournaments without a top-10 finish before the PGA Championship, is now looking for his third straight week near the top of the leaderboard.

Kyoung-Hoon Lee, tied with Kaymer at the start of the round, birdied four of his first five holes to build up a three-shot lead early on Saturday but closed with five bogeys to finish six shots behind. Tiger Woods, five-time champion of this event, made an early charge with four birdies on the front-nine but was derailed by a double-bogey at the 10th. He finished at four-under and in a tie for 25th, his record-tying 82nd PGA Tour title likely having to wait for another week.

Kaymer and Scott will tee off in the final pairing on Sunday at 1:50 p.m. EST.