Winners and losers from Saturday's third round of the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship

Japan's Hideki Matsuyama, the 36-hole leader at the PGA Tour's first playoff event in hot and humid Memphis, picked up Saturday right where he left off, carding a 6-under 64 to finish atop the leaderboard at 17 under overall with one day remaining at the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Matsuyama will take a five-shot lead into Sunday. Nick Dunlap at 12 under is his closest pursuer with Viktor Hovland at 11 under and Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns both at 10 under.

It was an eventful moving day at TPC Southwind. Matsuyama came in tied for the lead with Denny McCarthy, who shot a 72 and is tied for sixth. Jason Day made a move, shooting 5 under and is tied for 16th overall.

There's plenty to play for on Sunday. Here are Saturday's winners and losers.

Winners - Hideki Matsuyama

The leaderboard had been tight for the first two rounds until Matsuyama made his move, connecting on five birdies and an eagle en route to the day's best round. He has been steady throughout the tournament, taking the momentum from his bronze medal-winning performance at the Paris Olympics to Memphis.

Matsuyama will be the clear favorite to win the tournament on Sunday, especially if his putting stays hot.

"I did put a new putter in the bag, and it's been behaving very well," he said. Asked why the new putter, he said, "I've had the putter for a while, and I thought, 'Well, it might be a good week to debut that putter' but I might change putters tonight even."

Matsuyama said it's a Scotty Cameron, but "I don't know the model, though."

Winners - Viktor Hovland

Hovland was even par on Thursday and found himself outside the projected cutline for next week's playoff event at Castle Pines, Colorado. He turned that around on Friday and then had another good day on Saturday, shooting a 4-under 66 to 11 under and sit in solo third after 54 holes.

Last year's FedEx Cup champion, Hovland can ensure he's around for next week's event with another good performance on Sunday. He was 57th when the week started but the projections as of Saturday evening have him 20th.

"I'm actually starting to see some good shots, and now I've played two really good rounds in a row. I feel like I can do the same thing again tomorrow," he said. "It wasn't like I just got super lucky out there and had everything going my way the last couple of days. Maybe a little bit so yesterday, but today I feel like I proved to myself that I can play really consistent golf and go out here and shoot 4- or 5-under and not get that much out of my game."

Winners - Nick Dunlap

Dunlap finished Saturday alone in second place, though he's five shots back of Matsuyama. But he knew he'd need something special in Memphis, having started the week at No. 67 in the FedEx Cup standings. That means he needs to stay near the top of the leaderboard if he wants to be playing competitive golf a week from now.

He did what he needed to do on Saturday, shooting a 66 after a 65 on Friday to stay firmly in contention heading into Sunday. He's also vaulted 55 spots to 12th in the projected standings as he chases his third victory on the PGA Tour in 2024.

"I should be playing the U.S. Am this week, and I just got done playing a round of golf with Scottie. It was pretty cool," he said after his round.

Losers - Rory McIlroy

McIlroy ends up in this section for the second consecutive day and is now firmly out of contention. He opened his week with a 68 but followed that up with a 73 and then a 74. He's now tied for 66th and ahead of only three other golfers.

McIlroy started the day 5 over on his first four holes before rebounding to finish 4 over for the round. He's only down a spot in the FEC standings, though, to fourth.

Losers - Sam Burns' driver

Burns was having a good day — and, for the most part, did have a good day — on Saturday. But his driver did not, thanks to a wayward tee shot on the ninth hole that led Burns to slam it directly into the ground. The driver head broke off, which meant he played the final nine holes without it. He still finished with an even-par round, though.

Burns started the day at 10 under, one shot off the pace. He'll start his final 18 holes still at 10 under but tied for fourth, and more importantly, seven shots back of the lead held by Matsuyama.

Losers - Max Homa

Homa was already having a tough tournament coming into Saturday's round, but he matched the day's highest score with a 74. That was better than his 78 on Friday, but he's now at the bottom of the leaderboard by four shots at 11 over.

Homa will drop in the FedEx Cup standings, but he's not in doubt of missing the cutoff for next week's event after coming to Memphis at No. 35. He's down eight spots to 43 in the projected standings.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Winners and losers from Saturday's third round of the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship