At least 5 killed after gunman opens fire in Ukrainian capital

Blue Origin, the US space company of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, on Sunday will reuse a  booster for the first time to launch its massive New Glenn rocket.

The novel approach comes amid fierce competition between Bezos's firm and fellow tech titan Elon Musk's SpaceX, and a successful outing Sunday could up the pace and lower the cost of future Blue Origin launches.

At nearly 100 meters (about 328 feet) tall, the New Glenn is slated for liftoff from Florida's Cape Canaveral sometime between 6:45 am (1045 GMT) and 8:45 am. It will carry a communications satellite for the company AST SpaceMobile.

The company has launched the New Glenn twice before, but only with new rocket boosters.

It has launched its far smaller New Shepard rocket, primarily used for suborbital space tourism, with reused components before in a less technically challenging operation.

In November, Blue Origin recovered a New Glenn booster for the first time, succeeding in the complex technical challenge that culminated with a controlled vertical landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean. 

A previous attempt in January 2025 to recover the booster was unsuccessful after its engines failed to reignite during descent.

The booster that will be used in Sunday's launch was refurbished after its previous flight. For this first reuse, the company replaced all of its engines and make a few other modifications.

After liftoff, the rocket's two stages will separate at altitude. The upper stage will continue its journey carrying the satellite into space, while the booster will descend and attempt to land on a barge.

The operation's performance will be closely watched, as the New Glenn is at the heart of Bezos's space ambitions.

He is notably competing with Musk in NASA's Artemis lunar program, with their respective space companies both developing lunar landers for the US space agency.

The United States is doubling down on efforts to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon in 2028, before the end of President Donald Trump's term and a deadline set by Chinese rivals.

cha-pnb/acb

Millions of married women and transgender Americans could find their ability to vote more complicated than ever if the "SAVE America Act" promoted by US President Donald Trump, currently being debated in the Senate, were to pass.

The draft law would require Americans to prove their citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections and present identification materials when casting a ballot, such as a passport, driver's license or birth certificate.

But many women change their names when they get married, meaning the names on their birth certificates no longer match what they currently use -- forcing them to provide additional documentation to justify the discrepancy.

The same issue would affect transgender voters, whose documentation may not consistently reflect their current identity.

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, a public policy institute at New York University, "more than 21 million Americans lack ready access to those documents. Roughly half of Americans don't even have a passport."

For Rick Hasen, an expert on election law at the University of California, Los Angeles, "women and transgender people are the ones who are most likely to be affected," along with low-income and working class Americans who do not have passports.

Republicans in the House of Representatives have already passed a version of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, but it faces steep obstacles in the Senate, where it appears Democratic opposition will be too strong to overcome.

- Name changes -

Letitia Harmon, the policy and research director at the grassroots voting activist group Florida Rising, was married and then divorced in Washington state, she told AFP. She changed her name twice.

"So the problem is I don't know which name is in the database records," Harmon said, making it difficult to know which set of documents she would need to take to her polling place.

Harmon said she will likely need to order proof of divorce from Washington state -- a costly and time-consuming process.  

The White House argues that the SAVE America Act is necessary to combat voter fraud, and prevent non-citizens from voting -- though current US law already forbids that.

As for the issue of married women, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said last month: "They just have to go through their state processes to update that documentation."

- Voting gender gap -

The prospect of millions of women struggling to vote matters because historically, men tend to skew Republican.

According to the Pew Research Center, 52 percent of men surveyed said they identified with or leaned toward the Republican Party in 2024, while only 44 percent of women said the same. 

"There has been a trend over the last decade and a half of mostly Republican states passing laws that make it harder to register or to vote, and mostly Democratic states passing laws that make it easier to register," Hasen explained. 

As of now, a handful of mainly Republican-led states have asked residents to prove citizenship in order to register to vote in at least some cases, according to Ballotpedia.

In 2014, Harmon was living in Kansas and said she could not vote in primary elections that year because officials demanded to see her birth certificate, not just a valid photo ID.

Four years later, a federal judge declared that state law unconstitutional after more than 30,000 people were unable to register.

Earlier this month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law his own version of the SAVE America Act, which will go into effect in January 2027, after the midterm elections.

Harmon said it was senseless to disenfranchise thousands, just to find a handful of cases of fraud.

Indeed, in 2025, two people were charged in Florida over lying about their citizenship in order to cast ballots.

But such cases remain extremely rare.

A Washington Post investigation unearthed 31 "credible incidents" of fraud out of one billion ballots cast from 2010 to 2014.

vla/sst/jgc

On the banks of Iraq's Tigris River, Haidar Kazem mourned 300 tonnes of the fish he had carefully raised in ponds wiped out by a flood of polluted water.

Water supplies in Iraq, the eastern half of what is known as the region's fertile crescent and which the United Nations ranks among the countries most affected by climate change, are in a dire state.

"In just two hours, my entire project was gone -- fish I had spent a year-and-a-half raising. I am back to zero," the 43-year-old fish farmer told AFP.

Earlier this month, after yet another very dry season, a brief spate of rain led authorities to open the gates of the Hamrin Dam, sending water into the Diyala, a tributary that is choked with untreated sewage.

The flood then swept the contaminated water into the larger Tigris, and the pollution was so severe that it was visible in satellite images.

Images from Copernicus Sentinel analysed by AFP show that, following the late-March rainfall, a noticeably dark stream flows from Diyala to the Tigris throughout the period from March 28 to April 12.

"No one told us that polluted water was headed our way," Kazem said, adding that the contaminated stream reached his ponds on April 5, killed all his fish and caused losses exceeding a million dollars.

Kazem buried his stock -- carp for Iraq's beloved grilled dish masguf -- and now spends his days cleaning their floating cages on the banks of the Tigris, haunted by the question: how will he save his livelihood?

"I don't know any other trade, and I don't have the money to restart," he said.

- 1,000 tonnes -

Arkan al-Shimari, the head of the agriculture department in Kazem's province Wasit, said that the sewage stream has killed more than 1,000 tonnes of fish.

According to authorities, several water treatment plants discharge untreated sewage into the Diyala River, which years of drought in Iraq have left low and notorious for its foul odour.

Environmental open-source investigator Wim Zwijnenburg said that the Diyala consistently appears darker than the Tigris due to wastewater discharge, its low depth and weaker currents.

Normally, it would gradually mix into the Tigris, but this time heavy rain created a stronger current in Diyala, sending a less-diluted polluted water into the Tigris, and "thus affecting downstream fisheries and potentially also water treatment plants".

As the situation worsened, authorities restricted water supply -- normally treated water from the Tigris -- in several areas of Wasit, reporting 20 documented cases of poisoning and rash.

Declining rain over recent years, coupled with rising temperatures, has brought water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to staggering lows, for which Baghdad also accuses upstream dams built by neighbouring Turkey and Iran.

- Black water -

Following the recent fish die-off, authorities vowed they would take the necessary measures to treat wastewater before discharge.

But decades of conflicts have left the country's infrastructure in a pitiful state and its water management systems in disrepair.

Iraq's new agency INA quoted a Baghdad official as saying that authorities will soon open seven more water treatment plants in the city.

In the town of al-Numaniyah, fish farmer Mazen Mansour, 51, gazed over the still water in his empty floating cages, which until recently held 38,000 fish he had been counting on selling next month.

Mansour said he did not realise polluted water had flooded the area until he saw his fish dying in the evening. He tried to save them by pumping air into his basins to provide oxygen, but it was too late.

"The water was black and filled with sewage," he said.

"All our work was gone in one night," added the father of four.

Now, he said, there is nothing he can do but wait and hope for compensation from the government.

"We urge the state to compensate us and hold those responsible accountable."

cbg/rh/dc/ceg

Nikola Jokic's 25-point triple-double and 30 points from Jamal Murray propelled the Denver Nuggets to a 116-105 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in their NBA playoff opener on Saturday.

Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic added 13 rebounds and 11 assists, shaking off a slow start that saw him score just six points in the first half to help the Nuggets pull away in a game tied 62-62 at halftime.

Murray scored 17 of his 30 in the first half to keep the Nuggets close, finishing a perfect 16 of 16 from the free-throw line.

The third playoff series in four seasons between the teams got off to a physical start at Denver's Ball Arena, with more than 40 fouls called, a flagrant foul called on Minnesota's Jaden McDaniels and a technical on Denver coach David Adelman.

The Nuggets trailed by as many as 12 in the first quarter before bearing down in the second period and pulling away after the break.

Adelman was pleased with the way his team responded after the early punch from the visitors.

"Winning a grimy game, it's good," Adelman said. "Both teams are experienced and used to winning these games. They know what it means to play in a physical match-up. There's a respect on both sides. There's also a want to win.  

Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 22 points and Rudy Gobert added a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, but ultimately they couldn't find an answer for Jokic.

"(Jokic) is such a patient player," Adelman said. "Early it was a lot of our guys making plays for each other and as they changed their coverages then he went to work."

The Nuggets, who beat Minnesota in the 2023 playoffs on the way to the NBA title, then lost to them the following year, host game two of the best-of-seven Western Conference series on Monday.

In the Eastern Conference, the third-seeded New York Knicks and fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers opened with comfortable victories.

Jalen Brunson scored 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 25 for the Knicks in a 113-102 victory over the Atlanta Hawks at Madison Square Garden.

Brunson scored 19 points in the first quarter to help the Knicks emerge from the back-and-forth period with a 30-24 lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Towns stepped it up in the second half, scoring 19 points in the second half to keep things rolling for a Knicks team aiming to improve on their trip to last year's Eastern Conference finals.

CJ McCollum scored 26 points to lead the Hawks.

In Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points to fuel the Cavaliers in a 126-113 win over the Toronto Raptors.

James Harden added a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds and Max Strus scored 24 points off the bench for the Cavs, who host game two. 

RJ Barrett scored 24 points for the Raptors, who never led after the opening minutes and trailed by as many as 24.

Mitchell has now scored at least 30 points in an NBA record nine straight playoff series openers.

"You see the focus," Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said of Mitchell. "How he just gets more locked-in than ever."

- Durant out for Rockets -

The final game of the day saw the West's fourth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers host the Houston Rockets.

The series was billed as a matchup of old foes LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

But Rockets star Durant was ruled out of game one with a bruised knee suffered in practice.

"Hopefully it's a one-game thing," coach Ime Udoka said.

James, 41 and playing in his unprecedented 23rd season, is in the playoffs for a record-equaling 19th time and chasing a fifth NBA title.

He's leading a Lakers team missing NBA leading scorer Luka Doncic and fellow guard Austin Reaves, who are sidelined indefinitely after late-season injuries.

bb/jgc

Voters in Bulgaria are heading to the polls in the eighth election in five years on Sunday with ex-president Rumen Radev's grouping expected to win on a pledge to fight corruption.

The European Union's poorest member has been mired in a political crisis since 2021 when large anti-corruption rallies toppled the conservative government of long-time leader Boyko Borissov.

Radev, a former airforce general who has advocated for renewing ties with Russia and slammed sending military aid to Ukraine, was president for nine years.

He stepped down earlier this year to lead newly formed centre-left grouping Progressive Bulgaria, with opinion polls before Sunday's vote suggesting the bloc could gain 35 percent of the vote.

Radev has said he wants to rid the country of its "oligarchic governance model" and backed anti-corruption protests in late 2025 that brought down the conservative-backed government.

"Radev's cause is for Bulgaria to have a future. We have reached a point where we are questioning the very future of our own country," Lazar Lazarov, a 28-year-old philosophy teacher, told AFP at Radev's final campaign rally in Sofia earlier this week.

"Radev has proven himself as president and as a statesman. He's the one who is most acceptable for the EU, the United States, Russia and, if you like, even for China."

Borissov's pro-European GERB party is likely to come second, according to opinion polls, with around 20 percent, ahead of the liberal PP-DB.

Polling stations will open at 0400 GMT and close at 1700 GMT.

- 'At ease!' -

Radev has slammed the EU's green energy policy, which he considers naive "in a world without rules", as well as any Bulgarian efforts to send arms to Ukraine battling a Russian invasion since 2022.

Pushing for renewed ties with Russia, Radev denounced a 10-year defence agreement between Sofia and Kyiv that was signed last month, which earned him fresh accusations from his opponents of being too soft on Moscow.

The ex-president also stoked dismay by screening images at his rally on Thursday of his meetings with world leaders including Russia's Vladimir Putin.

In a wave of outrage among pro-European voters on social media, hundreds of users shared a screenshot as proof that Radev sides with the Kremlin.

At the event itself, however, in Bulgaria's largest indoor arena, supporters received Radev with cheers, which he cut short with a military-style "at ease!" to laughter from the audience.

"We need to close ranks," he told some 10,000 supporters, presenting his party as non-corrupt "alternative to the perverse cartel of old-style parties".

Borissov, who headed the country virtually uninterrupted for close to a decade, has dismissed suggestions that Radev brings something "new".

At a rally of his party earlier this week, he insisted GERB had "fulfilled the dreams of the 1990s" with such achievements as the country joining the eurozone this year.

- High turnout expected -

Radev has vowed to avoid a coalition with GERB after the election and also ruled out cooperation with Delyan Peevski, heading the DPS party and sanctioned for corruption by the United States and Britain.

Instead, Radev said he was aiming at an absolute majority in the 240-seat parliament.

A lack of trust in politics has affected voter turnout, which slumped to 39 percent in the last election in 2024.

But with Radev rallying voters, high turnout is expected, according to analyst Boryana Dimitrova from the Alpha Research polling institute.

Political parties have called on Bulgarians to show up for the polls, also to curb the impact of vote buying.

In recent weeks, police have seized more than one million euros in raids against vote buying in stepped-up operations.

They have also detained hundreds of people, including local councillors and mayors.

rb-frj/jza/jxb/abs

Lionel Messi gifted Inter Miami's new coach a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rapids with a brace including a spectacular late winner in front of 75,000 Major League Soccer fans on Saturday.

Shifted to Denver's giant NFL stadium to accommodate the huge demand to see Argentina's World Cup-winning icon, the game appeared to be drifting Colorado's way after a spirited home team fightback from 2-0 down.

But Messi, having already converted a penalty, had other ideas. With just over 10 minutes remaining, the Argentine sprinted onto a through ball sent down the right by Rodrigo De Paul.

He dribbled into the box and somehow threaded a shot with his favorite left foot through three defenders and past the keeper into the corner. 

It handed Messi's longtime friend Guillermo Hoyos a win on his debut as Miami coach, after Javier Mascherano departed the club for "personal reasons" Tuesday, just four months after guiding the club to its first MLS Cup title.

"We have the greatest player in history, someone who completely shifts the momentum of matches," said a delighted Hoyos.

Hoyos, 62, made few changes to the lineup, notably bringing in German Berterame to replace Tadeo Allende, who continues to recover from a muscle injury.

The win sends Inter Miami up to second place in the Eastern Conference. 

"This continues the work we've been doing and the progress the team has been making -- the team is the reigning MLS champion. We are a solid unit," said Hoyos.

"Just look at the energy Inter Miami generates -- how they've had to move to a larger stadium to accommodate it all -- and contrast that with the quiet humility with which we have always tried to go about our business," he added, in Spanish.

- Late heroics -

Playing in front of 75,824 fans -- the second-largest crowd in MLS history -- Miami got off to a sluggish start, but were handed a golden opportunity.

As Colorado tried to play the ball out from the back under Miami's press, Josh Atencio conceded a penalty for tripping Yannick Bright in the box.

Following a lengthy VAR check Messi stepped up, rolling it calmly down the middle as the keeper dived left.

Colorado continued to dominate possession while rarely threatening.

And just before halftime, the Rapids coughed up possession in their own half. A Messi flick allowed Mateo Silvetti to flight in a cross for Berterame to head home from close range.

The Rapids rushed back into the game in the second half. 

Just before the hour mark, Rafael Navarro picked up the ball just inside his own half, drove through the center, skipping inside a defender with a clever feint to bury the ball in the bottom right.

Colorado coach Matt Wells immediately doubled down, bringing on attacker Darren Yapi for Hamzat Ojediran. It paid off spectacularly.

Barely four minutes after their first goal, a pinpoint Lucas Herrington ball over the top found Yapi clean through with a diagonal run for the Rapids' equalizer.

But Messi quelled the home team's comeback with his late heroics.

The game ended on a sour note as Bright was sent off for using abusive language while protesting a yellow card against his teammate Telasco Segovia.

amz/bb

Real Sociedad coach Pellegrino Matarazzo was elated after his side defeated Atletico Madrid to win the Copa del Rey on Saturday, making him the first American coach to claim a major trophy with a club from Europe's top five leagues.

La Real triumphed 4-3 in the shoot-out following a pulsating 2-2 draw after extra-time, to win the trophy for only the fourth time in the club's history.

When Matarazzo was appointed in December the Basque team were hovering above the relegation zone, but he has driven them up the table and now to cup glory.

"It's probably the first (major trophy) for an Italian-American," said Matarazzo, a New Jersey native born to Italian immigrant parents.

Matarazzo said it was not until Pablo Marin's decisive penalty in the shoot-out hit the back of the net that he could really begin to take anything in.

"That was the moment where I realised this is real. It's happening," said the coach.

"You visualise success and you believe in it and you trust the players, but until you cross the finish line you don't really have the feeling that what is happening (is happening), and then it happens.

"And with that penalty, it took a couple of moments to realise, but it's just pure joy."

Matarazzo insisted the team's success over the past few months was not just down to him but the daily work that everyone put in, and the quality of the players he has available.

"We have fantastic players, unbelievable players on this squad with unbelievable character," he said.

"(Behind the success is) the daily work and the commitment that we all have to this team and for this club."

Real Sociedad's players, many of them who came through the club's youth system, were also overjoyed.

"I've never walked on water but it has to be like this," said Real Sociedad striker Mikel Oyarzabal, who scored a penalty to put his team 2-1 up before half-time.

"It's tricky to win a trophy with the team of your life. After this my career is complete and I can die happy."

- 'Leave my mind blank' -

Oyarzabal netted from the spot in the 2020 Copa del Rey final to win it for his club but it was without fans in the stadium because of the global pandemic.

This time around it was Pablo Marin who converted the decisive penalty in the shoot-out.

"I tried to leave my mind blank, calm and serene," he said.

"To be able to live through this with these wonderful people is incredible."

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone, who last led his team to the Copa del Rey in 2013, rued the opportunities his side wasted to win the game before penalties.

"The chances didn't want to go in," said the coach.

The Rojiblancos still have a chance to lift a trophy this year -- they face Arsenal in the Champions League semi-finals, a competition they have never won.

However Simeone said he needed time to absorb the defeat in Seville.

"I'm not thinking about Arsenal, what happens today hurts me a lot. We needed to win and we couldn't win," said Simeone.

rbs/amz

After a multi-homer game the night before, Mizzou baseball went quietly to a series loss against No. 14 Oklahoma. 

The Tigers' Game 2 of the series against the Sooner resulted in a 4-0 loss Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma. The defeat marks the fourth time that Mizzou has been shutout by an opponent in the 2026 campaign.

The defeat brought Mizzou to 3-14 in the Southeastern Conference and 20-19 overall this season. 

Blaize Ward and Jase Woita combined for three home runs on Friday, but followed it by both going 0-for-4 at the plate in the second game of the series. 

Left fielder Donovan Jordan, catcher Mateo Serna and shortstop Kam Durnin contributed the most to the offense, each reaching base twice in the outing. 

The Tigers were able to scatter two hits and three walks, but were not able to cross the plate. Mizzou put two on in the fifth, sixth and seventh inning, but stranded them all.  

Mizzou's starting pitching struggled in the first two games against Oklahoma. On Friday, right-hander Josh McDevitt saw eight Sooners cross the plate during his time on the mound. Brady Kehlenbrink had a rough start on Saturday, allowing four in the first four innings, but settled in after. 

Across his six innings on the mound, Kehlenbrink struck out 10 batters. The outing marks the third time this season that the lefty has eclipsed the double-digit mark in strikeouts. The four runs crossed on four hits and two walks. 

Reliever Trey Lawrence tagged on two scoreless innings to close out the game. He allowed just one walk and one hit, while striking out three. 

The Tigers will try to avoid a sweep against the Sooners at 2 p.m. Sunday in Norman, Oklahoma 

Former Mizzou assistant coach Steve Wright is heading to the University of Memphis to join Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway’s staff as an assistant coach, as announced Friday.

“Steve is a proven winner with a championship pedigree and we look forward to his positive impact on our program,” Hardaway said in a press release.

Wright enters his role at Memphis after one year on Missouri coach Dennis Gates’ staff, helping the Tigers to a 20-13 overall record and an NCAA Tournament appearance where they fell to Miami (Fla.) 80-66 in the first round.

With Wright’s departure, there is an open spot for a new assistant coach on Gates’ staff that is going to Jason Crowe Sr., five-star recruit and Mizzou signee Jason Crowe Jr.’s father, according to a report from Andscape.

Crowe scores 15 in JBC

Crowe Jr. played in the Jordan Brand Classic, repping his new NIL brand deal that he signed with Jordan earlier this week. In the JBC, he scored 15 points for Team Flight before losing 134-133 to Team Air.

Crowe showed his exceptional court vision throughout the game, finding teammates in transition or on set plays to score the ball in addition to finding lanes to create his own shots. He ended the game with three assists, often trusting his teammates to score even if he had a lane himself.

In the backcourt, he played attentive defense that showed why he is one of the top players in the country. Every small move his opponent made when he was face guarding, he moved his feet and got his hips in line — ready to stop the ball no matter where the offender turned.

Mitchell makes final in PIT

Mizzou’s Mark Mitchell and the rest of the Mike Duman Auto squad fell in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament Championship on Saturday against Portsmouth Sports Club.

Mitchell and his team have won their last two games to advance to the championship, first defeating Portsmouth Eco. Development 104-95 on Thursday and then taking down Portsmouth Partnership 92-88 on Friday.

Mitchell had eight points and five rebounds in 23 minutes against Portsmouth Partnership and 12 points and three rebounds against Portsmouth Eco. Development in 27 minutes. In the loss, Mitchell ended with 13 points and nine rebounds to go along with three assists.

The championship is set to tip off at 6 p.m. in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Potential MU transfer McCubbin to Northern Iowa

Columbia-product Tate McCubbin confirmed his transfer to Northern Iowa from Austin Peay on Friday via X.

The former Battle star was sought after by Mizzou, but with his commitment to play his junior year at Northern Iowa, the Tigers’ have four roster spots open. Gates chose to leave one roster slot open for the 2025-26 season, with only 14 players rostered.

Matt Fitzpatrick extended his lead with an erratic three-under par 68 Saturday at the US PGA Tour RBC Heritage as world number one Scottie Scheffler stormed up the leaderboard into second place. 

Overnight leader Fitzpatrick bounced back from a shaky start, holing out from off the greens on 14 and 15 for birdie and eagle respectively, to finish three strokes clear on 17-under-par at Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. 

Having bogeyed the first and third holes, the 2023 RBC Heritage champion clicked into gear around the turn, becoming the only player this week to drive his ball onto the ninth green, with a 338-yarder that he converted for birdie.

Fitpatrick reclaimed the solo lead with a confident 10-foot putt on the 12th.

The Englishman putted in a bobbling left-to-right effort from 26 feet off the green for another birdie on 14 -- the same hole on which he had bounced off a tree on the way to an improbable birdie a day earlier.

And he then executed a perfect chip into the hole from 30 feet on 15 to open a three-shot lead.

Fitzpatrick is seeking his fourth PGA Tour title, adding to last month's Valspar Championship and the 2022 US Open, as well as his 2023 RBC Heritage title.

Scheffler -- having begun Moving Day seven strokes off the lead -- made five birdies in his first six holes to soar into contention.

"You can't ask for much of a better start than that. Came out, nice birdie on the first, good birdie on the second. Kind of stole one on four, and two good birdies there on five and six," he said after.

From a stunning front-nine 31 that shot Scheffler briefly up to tied-first, the four-time major winner's momentum slowed slightly with a string of frustrating pars.

But he birdied the 16th and final holes for a seven-under round of 64, to finish 14-under-par for the tournament with one day to play.

"As you start kind of getting back into contention, I think that's always fun. It's never as fun being on the outside looking in," said Scheffler.

Meanwhile fellow American Brian Harman hit the day's best round with a career-low 63 at windy Harbour Town Golf Links featuring nine birdies.

The Savannah-born golfer thrived in familiar local conditions, finishing with three straight birdies after holing a bunker chip from 30 feet on 17.

"Just tried to keep the pedal down. It's going to take a low number to win," said Harman.

Norway's Victor Hovland, who had started the day one stroke off the lead, had a disastrous start, including a bogey on the first and a double bogey on 3.

He finished a disappointing day six strokes back with a round of 73.

amz/bb