Scotty Scheffler 'Sharper' in the third round at The Players Championship - PGA Tour

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Did Scottie Scheffler find something that helped him shoot a third-round 67 at Saturday's Players Championship?

Scotty Scheffler was "sharper" in the revived third round of THE PLAYERS Championship

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Scottie Scheffler made a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 17 at THE PLAYERS

Written by Paul Hodovanec

Ponte Bedra Beach, 11 la.la (DNA) -- Did Scotty Scheffler find anything to help him shoot a third-round 67 at The Players Championship on Saturday?

In Scheffler's mind, that meant he had something to lose — a claim he wasn't ready to make after his lowest round since the final day of last month's Genesis Invitational.

"Today was a little more intense than the first two days," said Scheffler of TPC Sawgrass, "I felt like I was swinging better every day of the tournament."

Scottie Scheffler starts the birdie train back in nine players

Scheffler's struggles in the first two rounds, if you want to call it that, kept him away from real competition.Scheffler reckons the only way to get there on Sunday is if the wind blows really hard.But the weekend here is important for Scheffler's short and long-term future.

It started smoothly. Scheffler, who started the day at 1 over, had five birdies and no bogeys, his first bogey-free round since the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, improving his total to 4 under.

An excellent driver contributes to the results.Scheffler hit 11 of 14 fairways, playing the short grass more often than he did in the opening 36 holes.Scheffler birdied the second hole on a friendly par 5 to start his day, before making more difficult birdies on the fifth and sixth holes, birdie putts of 9 and 19 feet, respectively.

His next birdie came on the par-4 12th drive.Scheffler made the layup but hit his forehand to 4 feet and sank the putt.Scheffler's final birdie came on what he called his best shot of the day, hitting an iron on the island green's par-3 17th that landed exactly as he intended, landed just over the pin and hit a famous left-hander to make it close to the hole.

Scottie Scheffler sinks a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 17 at The Players.

"I think with my shots the first few days, my style and the fights I had, I think when I look at the competition, I don't think about winning, I think about the right approach to everything," Scheffler said.

Scheffler hopes to do the same on Sunday as he looks to get a new momentum going in preparation for next month's first major at Augusta National.

Scheffler has not decided if he will play until then, so the final round at TPC Sawgrass could be his last chance to test his game against top competition.