What began as a potential three-way slugfest quickly turned into a Scottie Scheffler showcase Saturday at the 107th PGA Championship, as the world’s top-ranked golfer seized a commanding lead heading into Sunday’s final round.
Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau were all tied at 7-under par deep into their third rounds at Quail Hollow Club. But as the sun began to set, Scheffler found another gear, playing his final eight holes in 4-under par en route to a 6-under 65. He finished the day at 11-under 202, three shots clear of Sweden’s Alex Noren.
Rahm stumbled over his final two holes, playing them in 1-over to finish with a 67, placing him at 7-under 207. DeChambeau fared worse, bogeying three of his last three holes for a 69, leaving him at 6-under 208.
“All I can do is try to hit the shot I’m trying to hit,” said Scheffler, who hit 13 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens. “Today was a day down the stretch where it worked well.”
Noren, 42, carded the day’s second-best round with a 5-under 66, moving him to 8-under 205. He will join Scheffler in Sunday’s final pairing.
Two unheralded Americans, J.T. Poston (68) and Davis Riley (67), will play in the penultimate group at 6-under 207. They are joined at that mark by Si Woo Kim (71) and Jhonattan Vegas (73). Keegan Bradley (68), Tony Finau (69), Matthieu Pavon (72) and Matt Fitzpatrick (72) are all at 5-under, still within striking distance.
The 28-year-old Scheffler is seeking his third major championship title. He will face a Quail Hollow course that is beginning to show more teeth, but his focused ball-striking has proven difficult to derail.
Thorbjornsen’s roller-coaster round
For Michael Thorbjornsen, a rapidly rising 23-year-old pro, Saturday’s third round was a lesson in the PGA Championship’s unforgiving nature. After playing steadily for much of the day and hovering around 4-under, he encountered the notorious “Green Mile” — Quail Hollow’s challenging closing stretch.
A bogey, bogey, double-bogey finish on Nos. 16, 17 and 18 dropped him to a 3-over 74, putting him at 1-under 212 and tied for 31st.
“I’ve had a lot happen to me the past few years,” said Thorbjornsen, who earned his PGA TOUR card last spring after a standout collegiate career at Stanford. Despite the disappointing finish, he remained philosophical. “I know my time is going to come.”
Tournament Notes
The cut fell at 1-over, marking a narrow nine-stroke gap between the leaders and those who made it to the weekend. This is the smallest spread since the 2006 PGA Championship at Medinah CC, which had an eight-stroke difference.
Only three players — Matt Fitzpatrick (68-68), Scottie Scheffler (69-68) and Garrick Higgo (69-69) — posted rounds in the 60s in both the first and second rounds. The 28 players who recorded rounds in the 60s on Thursday combined to be 88-under, but those same 28 players were a combined 15-over in the second round.
For the first time in PGA Championship history, no American was in the top four after 36 holes. Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela), Si Woo Kim (South Korea), Matthieu Pavon (France) and Matt Fitzpatrick (England) held the top spots. Saturday’s play dramatically shifted that dynamic, with Scheffler taking the lead and Davis Riley and J.T. Poston entering a tie for third.
International players are also looking to break a streak, as an American has won the PGA Championship in each of the last nine years.
Defending champion Xander Schauffele’s impressive streak of 12 consecutive top-20 finishes in major championships is in jeopardy. After a 72, he is currently tied for 49th at 215, five strokes out of a top-20 position. Jack Nicklaus holds the record for consecutive major top-20s with 33 from 1970 to 1978.
Collin Morikawa has now made the cut in all six of his PGA Championship appearances. Brooks Koepka’s perfect cut streak at the PGA Championship ended after 12 consecutive appearances, as he shot 75-76. Bud Cauley, playing in his first PGA Championship since 2020 due to injuries, made the cut on the number with birdies on his final two holes. Rickie Fowler missed the cut after a disastrous finish that included a double-bogey on the par-4 16th.
