CHARLOTTE, N.C. — One swing was all Scottie Scheffler needed to send Quail Hollow into delirium Saturday, to briefly rattle Bryson DeChambeauand to give this PGA Championship the star power it had been lacking.
Scheffler stood on the 14th tee, 304 yards from the hole, thinking his drive might come up a little short with the wind gusting right-to-left against his preferred fade. It was nearly perfect, the ball climbing onto the green and settling just inside 3 feet away.
The eagle put him atop the leaderboard for good and started a closing stretch that was nothing short of a clinic, 5 under over the last five holes. It sent him to a 6-under 65 and a three-shot lead as Scheffler closed in on a third major championship after winning the Masters twice.
“I executed the shot,” Scheffler said. “Did I execute it thinking I hit it 2 feet or whatever it was? I mean, there’s a little bit of luck involved in that when you’re at 300 yards. But overall, I executed how I wanted to.”
He did that a lot in the final hour and left so many contenders feeling helpless against the No. 1 player in the world.
Jon rahm made a run with three straight birdies. DeChambeau briefly had the lead until his tee shot on the par-3 17th found the water. He was trying to salvage a bogey putt from 25 feet away when the loudest cheer from across the lake by the 14th green made him back off.
Scheffler, of course.
The world’s No. 1 player turned a three-shot deficit into a three-shot lead over Alex whom (66), who only last week returned from seven months away with a hamstring injury and now gets his first opportunity to play in the final group of a major.
Rahm was among those five shots behind. DeChambeau was six back. They thought they would be closer until Scheffler wasn’t satisfied with taking the lead. He wanted a proper finish and delivered it with two birdies, each packed with a little more emotion.
It ended with an 8-iron from the seam of a divot to just inside 10 feet for birdie on the 18th, and Scheffler pumped his fist accompanied by, “F— yeah, baby!”
“I typically don’t show much emotion. I don’t know how much I showed there. I don’t really think about what I’m doing,” Scheffler said. “I just felt like I hit two really good shots in there … and was able to just take advantage of the opportunity.
“Wherever the emotion came from, felt like an important part of the round to finish off the round the right way.”
It marked the first time Scheffler had gone 5 under in any five-hole stretch of a major round.
DeChambeau, the U.S. Open champion who has been a major force at golf’s biggest events, briefly took the lead with a birdie on the par-5 15th but then unraveled. He was three behind when he finished, six behind when Scheffler got done with his masterful performance.
The third round was delayed by morning storms, forcing a change in tee times to threesomes off both tees that didn’t start until shortly before noon. And then it became a game of musical chairs for the lead. Nine players had at least a share of the lead at one point.
One of them was Rahm, the two-time major champion and former No. 1 who has not seriously contended in the four majors he has played since joining LIV Golf.
“Hard to express how hungry I may be for a major, about as hungry as anybody can be in this situation,” Rahm said. “Very happy to be in this position.”
He finished nearly two hours before Scheffler and figured he would be at least one shot behind going into the final round. “This golf course is tricky and one shot is nothing on 18 holes,” Rahm said. He now faces a five-shot deficit but is armed with growing confidence in his game.
Scheffler, remarkably, for the first time posted the low score of any round in a major with his 65, which moved him to 11-under 202.
The 3-wood on the 14th was what got it started. The up-and-down for birdie on the par-5 15th gave him the lead for the first time in the championship. His best shot was his only par in that stretch, a 7-iron off a slight hill to a back pin with a nasty wind direction.
He missed a 12-foot birdie putt. But Scheffler then made an 18-foot birdie putt for one of only six birdies on the day at the 17th, and then finished it with his seventh birdie of the day.
Masters champion Rory McIlroy and defending PGA champion Xander Schauffele had a long day, nothing to do with each posting a 72. They were supposed to tee off at 8:25 a.m. and likely would be finished in time for lunch.
With the change to threesomes off both tees, they didn’t start until 1:38 p.m. and were on the other side of Quail Hollow as all the action was on the closing stretch.
Davis Rileywhose game has been rounding into form since he battled a two-way miss at the start of the year, made three straight birdies around the turn and two more on the scorable 14th and 15th holes for a 67. He was at 7-under 206 along with North Carolina native J.T. Postonwho birdied his last hole for a 68.
Rahm was tied for fifth with Trili and Jhonattan Vegaswho had two-shot leads after 18 holes and 36 holes and began Saturday with two straight bogeys. But he steadied himself and was still in the mix until driving into the water on the 15th for bogey and finishing out his 73 with a three-putt going on the 18th.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
