PGA Tour Championship: Tommy Fleetwood leads with Patrick Cantlay heading into final round
“The more times you get it wrong or it doesn’t happen for you, you start to not fear it,” he said of his chances of winning after narrowly missing out on victory at the St Jude Championship and Travelers Championship earlier this season.
“Experience is something you can’t practise. It’s all to play for and an amazing opportunity.”
“Everybody competing this week wanted to be in that final pair on Sunday and I’m one of those guys. Hopefully I am stood on the 18th green with the trophy.”
And on a leaderboard stacked with great potential storylines, US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley is on 13 under after shooting the low round of the day, a seven-under 63 at East Lake in Atlanta.
Bradley has already said he faces “the decision of his life” as he contemplates naming himself as one of his six picks to complete the 12-strong US team for next month’s contest against Europe at Bethpage Black in New York.
That call will be made public on Wednesday, 27 August and Cantlay must be in Bradley’s reckoning too.
Cantlay was fifth in the world heading into the 2023 Ryder Cup, where he became something of a pantomime villain over his decision to not wear a cap. Since then, he has steadily fallen down the rankings to 23rd.
And he missed out on automatic qualification for the Ryder Cup, meaning he needs a captain’s pick from Bradley to make his third successive US team.
The 33-year-old, who won the Tour Championship in 2021, closed with a hat-trick of birdies to cap an impressive bogey-free 64.
“I feel like I’m striking it well and in control of my golf ball,” he said.
“I’m exactly where I want to be going into Sunday and I’ll keep sticking to my process.”
The leaders will also have an eye on world number one Scottie Scheffler, who is lurking on 12 under.
Scheffler opened with successive bogeys but five birdies in his next eight holes lifted him to 11 under.
However, he missed several other short birdie putts and after a wayward eight-foot attempt on the 16th, he angrily threw his putter at his bag as his frustrations boiled over.
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre looked to be surging into contention when he reached 11 under with a birdie on the 10th but he too double-bogeyed the 15th after hitting his tee shot into water as he posted a 72 to end on eight under.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy briefly flickered, getting to nine under with a birdie on the 13th but a poor finish with successive bogeys saw him end on six under overall.
Both of those players have secured their Ryder Cup spots but several European players will be looking to give their captain Luke Donald a timely reminder of their quality on Sunday.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who looks likely to be knocked out of the final qualifying spot for the European Ryder Cup team by Rasmus Hojgaard at the British Masters, is the highest placed of those at nine under par.
Lowry cannot improve his ranking at the Tour Championship, while Hojgaard, who is 14th at the Belfry heading into the final round, needs to be in the top 29 to nick that final automatic spot.
Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland of Norway are at five and four under respectively and require Donald to give them the nod.
The same goes for Sepp Straka, who is set to finish eighth, above Aberg and Hovland in the qualification standings, but he has had a poor week in Atlanta and is bottom of the 30-man field on six over par.
You can follow the final round of the Tour Championship via BBC Sport’s live text page, which will be live from 18:30 BST on Sunday.