Harold Varner III and Kelly Kraft will both go for the first win of their PGA Tour careers on Sunday after solid days at the 2018 Military Tribute at the Greenbrier on Saturday in Round 3. They lead at 14 under, followed closely by Kevin Na and 2017 champion Xander Schauffele, both of whom are at 13 under and right in the mix going into the final day.
Varner, who finished before Kraft, burned down the back side of the course as he made birdies at Nos. 11, 12, 14 and 17 and went bogey free on the day. Kraft was a bit sloppier at the end. He, like Varner, went bogey free for the first 15 holes and made three birdies to boot. But then he bogeyed two of the last three to fall back into a tie for first with Varner.
Regardless, the table is set for a career day for both golfers. Varner is playing in the 85th PGA Tour tournament of his career, and his best finish was a T5 at the 2015 OHL Classic at Mayakoba. He has just six top 10s total in his career.
Similarly, Kraft embodies what a young journeyman looks like. That's not to say the former U.S. Amateur champion isn't talented -- he certainly is -- but rather that he's plodded (as most do) for the first portion of his career. He's winless through 82 tournaments with a career-best finish of second at the 2017 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He also has just six top 10s.
"I think there's a really good chance (to win)," Varner said after a 66-64-66 start. "Last time I was in contention, Graeme [McDowell] blew it away in Mexico. Other times I was just kind of out of it, backdoor, played good on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it. I'm going to go fix a few things that I thought I did wrong yesterday, even though I played well, and see what happens. I'm not going to do anything crazy."
Those two aren't the only intriguing characters on the leaderboard either. The top 10 is littered with interesting names and players for whom this week's win could be a season- or even career-changing victory. Let's take a look at a few of those going into Sunday's final round.
Xander Schauffele (T3, -13): Last year's winner, uh guys, might be playing for shot at a Ryder Cup spot on Sunday. If he wins, he'll go from 14th to somewhere around No. 10 or 11. If he closes 2018 the same way he closed 2017, Jim Furyk might have to take him to Paris.
"Just something about this place, I think," Schauffele said after shooting a 5-under 65 in Round 3. "I've been doing everything OK, but haven't been putting as well as I did last year,. This week, I don't know what my stats are, but I'm assuming they're pretty decent. So the putter is rolling nicely, and, yeah, it is a certain level of comfort I have out here, and I'm trying to use that to my advantage."
He's right about the putting. Schauffele is seventh in the field in that category so far.
Sam Saunders (5th, -12): I have a soft spot for Saunders, who is playing his 119th career Tour event. Sanders probably hasn't gone three days in his career without being asked about his uber-famous grandfather, Arnold Palmer. It would be cool for him to have a spotlight of his own for one weekend.
Bubba Watson (T6, -11): The left-hander is on the precipice of sewing up the 2017-18 PGA Tour Player of the Year Award before the third major of the year. He already has wins at the Genesis Open, WGC-Match Play Championship and Travelers Championship.
"(I) want to win," Watson said. "So let's go with that first. Then all these other guys are trying to beat me, so I'm trying to beat them. Then another trophy on the mantle would be nice."
Joel Dahmen (T6, -11): Notable because he was involved in a rules kerfuffle with Sung Kang last week that took nearly 30 minutes and resulted in the pairing behind those two playing through on the back nine on Sunday at the Quicken Loans National. A win on Sunday might be a tip of the cap from the golf gods.
Bronson Burgoon (T9, -10): The former Texas A&M standout is coming off a final round at the Quicken Loans with Tiger Woods. A round he said was "one of the most enjoyable rounds I've ever played in my life. He's in my opinion the greatest golfer ever to play, so it was one of my best rounds I've ever played." The momentum has carried over.