We have ourselves a golf tournament! Justin Thomas shot a stunning 62 on Saturday in Round 3 at the WGC-Mexico Championship, but he's still four off the pace that's (even more stunningly) still being set by 21-year-old Shubhankar Sharma. The Indian sensation has been incredible through 54 holes, following up his 65-66 start with a 69 on Saturday. At 13 under, he leads by two over a group that includes Tyrrell Hatton, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Rafa Cabrera Bello. He's up three on Pat Perez, Dustin Johnson, Brian Harman and Xander Schauffele.

It was a little bumpier for Sharma on Saturday than it was on Thursday or Friday, but he hung tough despite three bogeys. The epitome of this was a big boy 14-foot par putt on the 18th that preceded a fist pump and roar as he heads to Sunday. His reward? A date with Phil Mickelson on Sunday to try and win his first WGC event in the first PGA Tour tournament he's ever played in. 

Five takeaways from Round 3 on Saturday.

1. J.T. resets course record: Thomas' 62 was the round of the day, round of the week and round of the event as he took Jordan Spieth's third-round 63 from last year and bettered it by one. Thomas started smoking early with four birdies in his first seven holes. Then he turned up the heat on the back nine and started flaming with an eagle and three more birds for the Club de Golf Chapultepec course record. 

Thomas is still several strokes back of the lead, but that 62 in this field following a 72-70 start is more evidence of his preposterously high ceiling. Another one of those on Sunday (or even anything close), and he'll have taken his second straight tournament after winning the Honda Classic last week.

2. Phil's 65 stands up: It's a little overwrought, but it is pretty terrific that the oldest player in the field (Mickelson at 47) will chase the youngest (Sharma at 21) on Sunday. Both are chasing a career-altering win, but for very different reasons. Sharma is looking for what could be the launching pad into an internationally successful (and famous?) work life. Mickelson is looking for a jump start to the end of an historic 25-year run in golf that has seen him go winless for nearly 60 months. 

Mickelson's 65 on Saturday wasn't quite as unique as his crazy third round in 2017 at this event when he hit four fairways and shot 68, but it was much more useful. The important part here is not that Mickelson is down two but that he doesn't have any golfers between him and the leader. Even better, he'll get to turn the screws all day on the 21-year-old Indian as they'll be paired for the final 18 along with Hatton. That's going to be some riveting theater.

3. Sharma around the greens: How has Sharma been lighting up the best in the world after going into December 2017 outside the top 400 in the world? With a tee-to-green game that has been just stupendous. His around-the-green work made me wince a bit on Saturday, and if there's a leak, I think that's where you'll see it on Sunday. But look at his tee-to-green numbers.

  • Strokes gained off the tee: No. 9 (in the field)
  • Strokes gained on approach shots: No. 11
  • Proximity to the hole: No. 9

If this continues on Sunday and he doesn't completely butcher his work around the greens, Sharma's life is going to change in a big way.

4. Ranking the pursuers: Sunday is a classic case of an inexperienced lead dog being chased by a host of uber-talented (and much more experienced) stars. I don't know if that's the most fascinating scenario we have in terms of final round golf, but it's certainly up there. Here's how I would rank the pursuers behind Sharma (accounting for how far back they are and what type of Sunday gear they have).

  1. Sergio Garcia (-11) -- His ball-striking this week has been illustrious. This is the type of course he can eat at on a Sunday.
  2. Dustin Johnson (-10) -- The ultimate lurker. You know there's a 64 or 65 in there. The question is whether it would be enough.
  3. Phil Mickelson (-11) -- I would pay inordinate sums of money to hear what Mickelson says to Sharma on the first tee tomorrow.
  4. Tyrrell Hatton (-11) -- My sleeper this week has not made a bogey since Thursday.
  5. Justin Thomas (-9) -- The lid has been lifted. I would believe anything.
  6. Xander Schauffele (-10) -- It seems like his game is more suited to a U.S. Open. Not sure he can withstand a shootout with D.J., Garcia and Thomas in the mix.

5. Shot of the day: It somehow wasn't the Ross Fisher ace (although that did get the soccer goal treatment early in the day). For my money, it was this cross-country putt from Adam Hadwin on the same hole Fisher's hole in one came on. Official distance was 28 feet. I bet it traveled more like 40.