The American looked every inch the world No 1 as he patiently followed 13 straight pars with four birdies in his last five holes en route to a bogey-free 68 and a one-shot lead over Ben Griffin heading into the final round. The Texas-based star patiently plodded along in demanding third-round conditions at Muirfield Village, and despite finding himself six shots behind an inspired Griffin as he headed down the back nine, he did not lose patience. Griffin wobbled mid-round and followed three birdies in a row from the sixth with four straight bogeys en route to a 72 as Scheffler birdied the 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th to lead on eight-under. It was a masterclass of controlled iron play and short game and putting brilliance from Scheffler, who is going for his third win in his last four starts having won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and the PGA Championship. As Jordan Spieth remarked afterwards: “What impresses me the most is his club face control is elite. It's maybe the best there's ever been as far as club face control. So his consistency is ridiculous.” Lowry is playing some of the best golf of his career and even heads Scheffler for iron play this week after gaining nearly eight strokes on the field with his iron play. He’s hit more greens in regulation than anyone but lies 53rd of 57 players for putting and tied for seventh on two-under heading into the final round. After missing a few chances going out, a missed five-footer for par at the eighth frustrated Lowry, who followed a three-putt bogey at the 13th with a sloppy dropped shot with a wedge in hand at the 14th. He birdied the par-five 15th and hit his approach to seven inches at the last to pick up another shot and camouflage a disappointing day. But his chances of winning look remote now on the evidence of Scheffler’s performance. “I just hit a lot of really good shots down the stretch, you know,” said Scheffler, who two-putted the 15th but also rolled in birdie putts of ten, eight and 13 feet on the 14th, 17th and 18th greens. He did not get fazed when Griffin cruised five shots clear of the field through eight holes. “Yeah, I did see that Ben got to 10-under, but like you said, it's not going to change my play in the middle of a Saturday,” Scheffler said. “This golf course is really challenging, and no lead's safe around this place. I knew if I kept going and played a decent round, I would be in somewhat of a position to chase him down tomorrow. “If he's sitting there at 10-under and if he gets to 12 or 13, there's not much I can do about that, so I'm not really going to change my mindset trying to get to 12-under when I'm sitting at four. “That's not really going to do me a lot of justice. So I tried to keep plotting along and hit some good shots and was able to have a nice finish.” Griffin is just one shot behind Scheffler as he seeks his third win in six starts. Nick Taylor is just three behind on five under after a 74, but the chasing pack looks too far back. Sepp Straka (66), Keegan Bradley (68) and Spieth (72) are five shots off the lead with Lowry six behind alongside Rickie Fowler and Patrick Cantlay in a tie for seventh. Meanwhile, Leona Maguire missed the one-over-par cut by three shots in the US Women’s Open at Erin Hill when the weather delayed the second round was completed yesterday. In round three, Sweden’s Maja Stark made only one bogey on her way to a two-under-par 70 and the 54-hole lead at seven-under-par. She leads by one stroke from qualifier and US Women’s Open rookie Julia Lopez Ramirez of Spain, whose 68 was the best round of the day by two strokes. A trio of Japanese stars – Rio Takeda, Hinako Shibuno and 36-hole leader Mao Saigo – are lurking just two shots behind. Saigo began the day with a three-shot lead but shot 75. World number one Nelly Korda shot 73 but lies solo sixth, just three shots off the lead.