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Scottie Scheffler watches his shot from the 14th tee during the first round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\n
LM Otero\/AP Photo\/LM Otero<\/p>\n
McKINNEY \u2014 If your preference is for a Sunday final pairing of bitter rivals, well, sorry, Scottie Scheffler<\/a> and Si Woo Kim<\/a> are the antithesis.\u00a0<\/p>\n They are friends, Royal Oaks members and frequent practice-round partners, so their 12:40 p.m. last pairing matchup in Sunday\u2019s final round of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch will be more kumbaya than fierce, but that doesn\u2019t mean it won\u2019t be competitive.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Most important to the tournament itself, it\u2019s a dream scenario. It\u2019s two Dallasites. One is the immensely popular No. 1-ranked player in the world and the Nelson\u2019s reigning champion<\/a>. The other No. 24 in the world and an ambassador for the tournament\u2019s title sponsor, CJ Group.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSi Woo, he’s a great guy,\u201d said Scheffler, who at 19 under trails leader Kim by two shots. \u201cHe’s a great competitor. I’m looking forward to the challenge of going to chase him down tomorrow. He’s one of the most talented guys we have out here on Tour.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s possible, of course, that Sunday\u2019s winner will come from a different pairing. Four-time major champion\u00a0Scheffler and 2023 U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark, also 19 under, are among five players who will enter Sunday within four shots of Kim.\u00a0<\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n No Nelson winner has rallied from more than four shots on Sunday, but if you\u2019re looking for an outside threat, five-time major champion Brooks Koepka is six shots back.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n All pursuers know they\u2019ll need to go low to catch four-time\u00a0PGA Tour winner Kim, especially with soft conditions and another forecast of negligible wind.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kim leads the PGA Tour this season with 270 birdies, 26 of which have come this week. He knows he\u2019ll need a slew more Sunday, with\u00a0Scheffler on his heels.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis course is definitely not a protecting course,\u201d Kim said. \u201cI\u2019m still going to have to shoot 6-to-9 under for a win, especially with Scottie.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI’m just going to play same attitude as first three days and try to make birdies where I can and then stay aggressive.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Kim carried a five-shot lead into Saturday<\/a>. Through 43 holes of the tournament he only had two bogeys for the week and was 20 under.\u00a0<\/p>\n But in a four-hole Saturday stretch, starting on No. 8, he went bogey, birdie, bogey, bogey and briefly fell a shot behind Clark.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAfter that my caddie told me, \u2018You’re in a rush; you’ve got to calm down and try to think of a couple more things,\u2019 \u201d said Kim, who bounced back with birdies on Nos. 12, 14 and 15 and finished with a 3-under 68.\u00a0<\/p>\n Scheffler began the day five shots back and on the fourth hole sustained his first birdie of the week. \u201cSloppy,\u201d he called it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In last year\u2019s Nelson he led wire-to-wire, carried an eight-shot lead into the final round and won by eight. This year he didn\u2019t taste his first lead of the until Saturday\u2019s 13th hole, when he rolled in a 7-foot birdie.\u00a0<\/p>\n That gave Scheffler four birdies in five holes and briefly pulled him into a tie atop the leaderboard with Clark and Kim. But Scheffler missed a 14-foot birdie attempt on the drivable par-4 14th, then a hole later lipped out from 20 feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTwo shots back going into tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to the challenge,\u201d Scheffler said. \u201cIt’s always fun when I get to play with Si Woo. I think it’s good for the community to have two guys that are local up there on the leaderboard.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Scheffler and Kim were grouped with Koepka the first two rounds here. Nothing new for Scheffler-Kim, who two weeks ago played a practice round with Jordan Spieth at Preston Trail, with Scheffler shooting 60 to break the course record.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n So Kim knows full well what kind of birdie barrage Scheffler could produce Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think no matter what, it’s going to be fun, especially Dallas, kind of like my second hometown,\u201d he said. \u201cHe grew up here. It’s going to be a lot of fans cheering for him. I know, of course, everyone’s cheering for him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Not everyone. CJ Group employees and local Korean fans certainly will be pulling for Kim, though no one connected with the Nelson would complain about a Scheffler repeat.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n