ATLANTA – An air of inevitability swept over East Lake Golf Club on Saturday evening.

The skies had parted following an hour-plus rain delay that pushed the finish of play till dusk. The leaderboard parted, too.

Alone stood Viktor Hovland, an emerging star whose rapid ascension could reach a glowing peak in 24 hours’ time.

On a day that saw the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa take major steps back, the ease of Hovland’s third-round 66 at the TOUR Championship was astounding. He will enter Sunday at 20-under and with a lead fitting of the performance. Xander Schauffele is his closest pursuer at 14 under, six shots back. Keegan Bradley and Collin Morikawa trail by seven.

You don’t have to look far to see how it could go wrong. Scheffler led by the same margin a year ago, only to be run down in the final round by McIlroy. However certain Hovland looks now, East Lake has spoiled many before.

Hovland will dictate whether others re-enter the picture. Whether he does or not, there is still plenty left on the line with 18 holes to play: massive FedExCup bonuses, end-of-the-year award races and Ryder Cup machinations, to name a few.

Here are five golfers with a lot to play for Sunday at the TOUR Championship.

Scottie Scheffler

Ask any of his peers, Scheffler is having a season few others can match. His ball striking is the best of the modern era of anyone not named Tiger Woods. His consistency is unparalleled. He finished in the top 12 of 19 consecutive tournaments this season, including a stretch of seven consecutive top fives.

In any year, it’s the resume of a unanimous Player of the Year winner. In 2023, it might only be good enough for second. Because Scheffler has a numbers problem. For as consistent as he has been, he’s won only twice. Jon Rahm has doubled him up with four.

That made this week at East Lake especially critical. If Scheffler, who started with a two-stroke advantage due to the FedExCup Starting Strokes format, could win, that could be the necessary trump card. A season of sustained excellence capped by the title that illustrates that quality best.

Instead, that patented consistency has fallen by the wayside. Rounds of 71-65-73 have left him a distant nine strokes back of Hovland. It’s also left him tied with Rahm at 11 under.

Their playing peers agreed this week would factor heavily into who they eventually vote to receive the year’s top honor. Now Scheffler and Rahm find themselves tied. But if this were baseball, Rahm is the runner. Scheffler needs to break the tie.

Adam Schenk

Schenk could put a lucrative and emphatic cap on what’s already been a life-changing season. He had never made more than $1.3 million in a season until this year and could eclipse that total altogether with a strong Sunday. Currently tied for eighth, he is projected to make a little over $1 million. A solo eighth finish would net him $1.5 million. A top-five finish would garner at least $3 million.

A renaissance season for the 31-year-old secured him his first TOUR Championship appearance in five years on TOUR. With it comes a two-year PGA TOUR exemption and admittance into all the major championships. He will make his Masters debut in 2024.

Schenk came close to nabbing his first win on TOUR on multiple occasions. He bogeyed the 72nd hole at the Valspar Championship in March to lose to Taylor Moore by a stroke. He contended again two months later at the Charles Schwab Challenge, ultimately falling in a playoff to Emiliano Grillo. Still, he’s made more than $4 million.

His potential payout on Sunday could beat either winner’s check and leave him with plenty of confidence to grab that elusive win in 2024.

Collin Morikawa

Swing feels can be fleeting and cruel. One moment you found the fix you have spent months searching for. With one swing, it can disappear.

Morikawa thought he found the fix at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in June. The one that would correct the misses that were becoming all too common for one of the best ball strikers in the world. The one that would return him to the top of the golfing world which he occupied after winning the 2021 Open Championship.

Instead, it was just a one-week blip – a moment he failed to capitalize on. He lost in a playoff to Rickie Fowler that week in Detroit, then missed the cut at the Open Championship in his next start.

The search began again.

He found something this week in Atlanta. A minor tweak to his setup suddenly eliminated any chance of his cut not cutting. It led to a Thursday 61 and a co-lead through 36 holes. All the same feelings emerged.

“It's nice to know that that golf swing is just exactly where I want it,” Morikawa said Thursday.

Then he shot 3 over on Saturday.

Was it a fluke? An inevitable result following a pair of low rounds? Or the first sign that he will be headed back to the range looking for that true fix once more? Sunday will give us an indication.

There’s still plenty to play for. Seven shots back is difficult but not insurmountable, especially given last year’s proceedings.

Morikawa is also a likely Ryder Cup captain’s pick – a tournament he’d undoubtedly prefer to have his best and most confident swing. The final round of East Lake will be about finding clarity – is it back to the drawing board or all systems go?

Xander Schauffele

There are horses for courses, then there’s Schauffele at East Lake.

His 2-under round on Saturday extended his streak to 27 rounds of even par or better at East Lake, the longest streak at this course of any player. He won the TOUR Championship as a rookie in 2017, prior to the FedExCup’s Starting Strokes format, and has never finished outside the top 10.

Since the implementation of the FedExCup’s Starting Strokes format in 2019, Schauffele has finished second, second, fifth and fourth. He has never won under the current format, however – something he has a chance to remedy Sunday. He sits six shots back of Hovland.

“I know what I need to do,” said Schauffele, who will play in the last pairing Sunday with Hovland. “I need to go out and try and put as much pressure on him tomorrow on that front nine as I can and hope for the best.”

Despite displaying some of the most consistent golf of his career – his 10 top 10s are a career-high – the year has been “pretty weird.” Without a win it’s felt even weirder, he said. Coming off a three-win season in 2022, Schauffele hasn’t had many close calls. He finished runner-up at the Wells Fargo Championship but four shots back of Wyndham Clark.

Facing a similar deficit, Schauffele will need more than the final-round 70 he shot at Quail Hollow.

Considering his history, it would be a surprise if he wasn’t in the mix coming down the stretch at East Lake.

Keegan Bradley

Bradley can’t help but embrace it. He hears it as he walks the fairways, and he’s asked about it after every round. He admits the thought of making the Ryder Cup team pops into his mind as he stands over putts.

Sunday offers Bradley’s last chance to state his case. Eleventh on the Ryder Cup Points List, Bradley’s hopes of playing in Rome next month rely on snagging one of six captain’s picks, which will be announced less than 48 hours after the conclusion of the TOUR Championship.

A win would be hard for captain Zach Johnson to ignore. It would give Bradley three wins on the season, a feat only eclipsed by Jon Rahm’s four victories.

It will take a mighty effort. After making just one bogey through two rounds, he dropped four shots on Saturday. Four birdies offset it for an even-par Saturday that played more than a shot tougher than the first two rounds. Yet the only round that really mattered was Hovland’s 66. That leaves Bradley seven shots back.

A member of the 2012 and 2014 Ryder Cup teams, Bradley has become known for his love of the event. He still hasn’t unpacked his suitcase from the 2012 Ryder Cup, and he hopes to pack a new one in about a month.

He needs something special on Sunday first.