Players Championship Leaderboard 2025: Reviewing Top Day 3 Scorecards, Player Stats

J.J. Spaun is the unlikely 54-hole leader at the Players Championship.

Spaun navigated treacherous conditions at TPC Sawgrass to shoot a two-under 70 and take a one-shot lead into Sunday.

Spaun owns a slight advantage over Bud Cauley, who was one of three golfers tied for Saturday's low round of 66.

The tournament is far from over, but Spaun, Cauley and others do have a sizable buffer over some of the top names in the field.

Rory McIlroy is four shots back of the lead, while Scottie Scheffler is seven shots adrift going into Sunday morning's final round.

The fourth round will be played on Sunday morning due to weather conditions in the Jacksonville area.

Players Championship Leaderboard

J.J. Spaun (-12)

Bud Cauley (-11)

Lucas Glover (-9)

Alex Smalley (-9)

Corey Conners (-8)

Rory McIlroy (-8)

Akshay Bhatia (-8)

Full leaderboard can be found here on PGATour.com.

Spaun fought through difficult conditions at TPC Sawgrass to produce a two-under 70.

The 54-hole leader rolled in five birdies, but he also had three bogeys, two of which came immediately after birdies.

A key par putt on the 18th hole allowed Spaun to take the solo advantage into Sunday's final round.

Bud Cauley is the only other golfer with a double-digit number under par and that is thanks to a six-under 66.

Cauley tied Corey Conners and Danny Walker for the low third-round score. Conners is four back of Spaun, while Walker sits five shots behind.

Cauley caught fire on the final 10 holes, a run that started with an eagle on the ninth hole.

He went on to roll in four birdies on his final eight holes to become the closest challenger to Spaun.

Spaun and Cauley's success stories stood out amid a round of carnage for some of the most notable golfers in the field.

Rory McIlroy dropped three shots on the 12th, 13th and 17th holes. He rebounded with a birdie on the 18th, but he still finished with a one-over score for the round.

Scottie Scheffler also carded three bogeys on the back nine. That cancelled out his three birdies on the day. His 72 kept him at five-under for the tournament.

At least McIlroy and Scheffler can claim they have an outside shot to still win the tournament.

Rickie Fowler shot a 10-over 82, Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa both recorded five-over 77s.

Will Zalatoris had the worst day of any potential winner. He went from a potential winner of the event through six holes on Saturday to 10 shots back of the lead.

Zalatoris fell apart on the back nine with a trio of double bogeys on the 14th, 16th and 17th holes. His disaster round ended with a bogey on the 18th hole.

Sunday's final round will take place in the morning with threesomes teeing off split tees on the first and 10th holes starting at 8 a.m. ET.