PGA Championship leaderboard LIVE: Scottie Scheffler crushes field to win third major title
The world No 1 was chased by Jon Rahm among others but proved too good for the rest at Quail Hollow
Scottie Scheffler crushed the field to clinch his first PGA Championship and the third major title of his career.
Scheffler began the day three shots ahead of his nearest rival, Alex Noren, and the world No 1 got away with some wild tee shots as the chasing pack failed to capitalise.
Eventually Jon Rahm came to the fore, briefly sharing the lead with Scheffler, but his challenge fell apart over the final three holes as Scheffler stormed clear.
Noren makes surprise bid for trophy
Alex Noren finally made his way back to tournament golf after seven months away because of a hamstring tear. One week later, the Swede is in the final group at the PGA Championship alongside the world's No. 1 player.
Noren last played the Dunhill Links Championship on Oct. 6. Instead of closing down the practice range every night, he spent his time at home coaching his daughter's softball team.
"It was a lot easier to have this break when I'm 42 than when I was younger," Noren said. "As soon as I kind of could play, I thought I was in sort of the same form I was in before I got injured. But I'm still extremely — not surprised — but I'm fortunate to be in this position this early, yeah."
DeChambeau with ground to make up
Bryson DeChambeau, who began his day five shots off the pace, was enjoying a bogey-free day and grabbed the outright lead with a birdie at the par-five 15th, where he got up and down from a greenside bunker before a sudden turn of events.
DeChambeau, who finished runner-up at last year's PGA Championship, bogeyed the 16th and made double-bogey at the par-three 17th where his tee shot ended up in the water. He is six shots back of Scheffler in a share of eighth place.
"It was just an unfortunate series of events that I can handle," DeChambeau said of his finishing stretch. "It's just, it's golf. Sometimes that happens."
McIlroy out of sorts again
Masters champion Rory McIlroy could only card a third round of 72 to be two over par and declined to talk to the media for the third day in succession.
Rahm 'hungry' for major glory
Rahm was 45th in the defence of his Masters title last year and missed the cut in the following month’s US PGA following his shock move to LIV Golf, but insisted the two were not related.
“Me going to LIV and playing worse in majors had nothing to do with where I was playing golf,” he said.
“My swing was simply not at the level it had to be for me to compete.
“There’s been weeks where I was able to play better, like The Open last year, but I would say even 2023, after winning the Masters, I did not play good at all until the Ryder Cup, so I think the problems began earlier than people think.
“But I’m now getting closer to a position of being comfortable. I think this week so far and this round has been a show of it.”
Rahm 'hungry' for major glory
Scheffler is now a strong favourite to finally get his hands on the Wanamaker Trophy after separating himself from the field with an eagle on the 14th and birdies on the 15th, 17th and 18th.
That finish made Rahm’s task much harder as he bids to add the US PGA title to his Masters and US Open victories.
“It’s hard to express how hungry I may be for a major, about as hungry as anybody can be in this situation,” Rahm said.
Rahm can become the first Spanish player to lift the Wanamaker Trophy, but he added: “It’s so much deeper than that.
“I would be closer to the grand slam, the first Spanish player since Seve [Ballesteros] to reach three majors and the first from Spain to get three different majors. Right now, you are talking about a dream come true.”
Scheffler takes charge of PGA Championship
Scheffler’s shocking arrest last year happened before the second round as he attempted to get around the traffic jam caused by an earlier fatal accident outside Valhalla.
The two-time major winner was charged with four offences, including second-degree assault of a police officer, after being instructed to stop his car but continuing to head into the course with the officer “attached” to the vehicle.
A mugshot of Scheffler was later released by the Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections, which showed he had been released after an hour and 12 minutes, allowing him to make his delayed tee time and eventually card a remarkable 66.
The charges were eventually dropped but the shocking incident made headlines around the world and Scheffler’s chances of winning the title disappeared with a third round of 73.
Scheffler takes charge of PGA Championship
Americans Davis Riley and JT Poston share third place on seven under, with Jon Rahm, halfway leader Jhonattan Vegas and Si Woo Kim on six under.
Bryson DeChambeau is another stroke back – alongside England’s Matt Fitzpatrick – after stumbling badly on the closing three-hole stretch known as “The Green Mile”, the US Open champion dropping a shot on the 16th and making a double bogey on the 17th after finding the water short of the green.
Scheffler takes charge of PGA Championship
What a difference a year makes.
Twelve months after being arrested and driven off to jail in handcuffs during the PGA Championship, Scottie Scheffler will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the same tournament at Quail Hollow.
Scheffler covered his last five holes in five under par to complete a superb third round of 65 and reach 11 under par, with Sweden’s Alex Noren his nearest challenger on eight under in just his second competitive start since October.
PGA Championship leaderboard
Here’s how the top of the leaderboard looks after a compelling Saturday’s play:
-11 Scheffler (65)
-8 Noren (66)
-7 Riley (67), Poston (68)
-6 Rahm (67), Kim (71), Pavon (71), Vegas (73)
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