Scottie Scheffler takes control of PGA Championship heading into final round
It took three days, but the leaderboard at the PGA Championship has balanced itself out. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler took full control of the tournament on Saturday as he looks for the third major championship of his career.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It took three days, but the leaderboard at the PGA Championship has balanced itself out.
And we’ve got the biggest name in golf on top with just one round to go.
Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1 who set the 72-hole scoring record on the PGA Tour the last time he teed it up two weeks ago, fired a third-round 65 and holds a three-shot lead heading into Sunday over Alex Noren.
Scheffler’s Saturday effort was the low round of the day. It was the first time in his major championship career when he shot the outright best score of the day.
Scheffler opened with a bogey, but he otherwise took control of the tournament through the back nine, highlighted by an eagle on the short par-4 14th. Scheffler made three birdies in four holes on the front nine before making ill-timed bogeys on Nos. 11 and 13. But he added birdies on Nos. 12, 15, and a lengthy one on 17 before adding one more for good measure on 18 after his drive found a divot.
Despite the gusty conditions and the noise around his leaderboard climb and that final-hole divot dig, Scheffler said Saturday evening that his laser-like focus inside the ropes is on the things he can control, and the shots he’s trying to hit.
“Some days it works better than others. Today was a day down the stretch where it worked well and other days it doesn’t,” Scheffler said. “At the end of the day, just proud of my fight the last three days and looking forward to the challenge tomorrow.”
Scheffler has history on his side heading into Sunday at Quail Hollow Club, as 13 of the last 14 winners of the PGA Championship were leading or within two shots of the lead after 54 holes. The reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year has also held the 54-hole lead at a major twice before – at both the 2022 and 2024 Masters, which he went on to win.
Scheffler was at his usual ball-striking best Saturday in Charlotte, hitting 13 of 14 fairways in those gusty winds. He’s first in strokes gained: tee to green, gaining more than four strokes on the field, and he’s third in strokes gained: off the tee.
What more could you ask for from the game’s top dog?
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Through Thursday’s opener – and even into Saturday – there were plenty of questions about the kind of board we were looking at. Plenty of PGA Tour winners were in the mix, but golf is an individual sport driven by star power, something that was lacking until about 3 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Heading into Sunday, there’s Jon Rahm tied for fifth and Bryson DeChambeau tied for eighth – both of whom shared the lead at one point Saturday before struggling to late-day bogeys. Rahm said after his round was finished that he thought he’d be about one-shot back and that would be a “great position.”
Turns out, he is five back of Scheffler, who has converted his last seven solo 54-hole leads on the PGA Tour into trophies.
Now, Scheffler has a chance to win his third-career major championship, a big-time accomplishment not lost on the game’s best player.
“These tournaments are very important to us. And you work your whole life to have a chance to win major tournaments – any tournament for that matter – and tomorrow I have a good opportunity to go out there and try to win a golf tournament,” Scheffler said. “But it’s going to take another really good round. There’s a lot of great players chasing me on the leaderboard, and someone is going to put up a great round, and it’s up to me to go out there and have another really good round and finish off the tournament. Looking forward to the challenge.”
The challenge, however, will be for those trying to chase him down.
An up-and-down day for the Canadian contingent
Canadian Taylor Pendrith managed to rally for a tremendous close at Quail Hollow Club after making four straight bogeys at the turn Saturday.
Pendrith missed par attempts from four feet on both No. 9 and 10 before adding two more squares on his scorecard on Nos. 11 and 12.
He did, however, make birdie on 17 (the hardest hole on the course Saturday) and 18, after birding the par-5 15th as well. That birdie came after Pendrith drove it in the water on No. 14 but still got it up-and-down for par.
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His approach shot on 18 was “maybe” the best shot his caddie Mitch Theoret had ever seen Pendrith hit, he told Sportsnet.
Pendrith finished with a 1-over 72. He’s 2 under through 54 holes and could have been more in the mix had it not been the four-bogey stretch.
Alas, he’s got his best-career major finish in his sights.
The Canadian displayed some serious mental fortitude to get off the bogey train Saturday, a product, he said, of some impressive work with sports psychologist Dr. Leslie TooGood, he said.
“Golf’s a hard game. I felt like I’ve been playing decent the last month and have had zero results to show for it – which is really frustrating at times,” Pendrith told Sportsnet. “I’ve been working on really stay present and stay one shot at a time. Me and Mitch had a good conversation after 11 when I was on the bogey train pretty hard, and I was able to hit some really nice shots coming down the stretch.”
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Fellow Canadian Corey Conners struggled to a 3-over 74 and is 2 over heading into Sunday’s finale. He will be paired with Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin (McKibbin plays on LIV) for the final round, teeing off at 10:20 a.m. ET. Pendrith will be paired with Maverick McNealy at 12:30 p.m.
