Sensational Scheffler seizes control of US PGA Championship

Third round of the US PGA Championship in 2025

-11 Scheffler (US), -8 Noren (Swe), -7 Poston (US), Riley (US), -6 SW Kim (Kor), Rahm (Spa), Vegas (Ven)

Selected others: -5 Bradley (US), DeChambeau (US), Finau (US), Fitzpatrick (Eng), Pavon (Fra), -4 Wallace (Eng), -2 MacIntyre (Sco), + 2 McIlroy (NI)

Scottie Scheffler, the world’s number one, will take a three-shot lead into Sunday’s final round at Quail Hollow.

The 28-year-old carded a superb round of 65 to finish the day 11 under par for the tournament, playing his final five holes in five under par.

Scheffler is in good position to capture his third major victory after converting 54-hole leads to victories in both 2022 and 2024.

Sweden’s Alex Noren, who shot 66 on four of his final five holes, is in second place with eight under.

The top of the leaderboard was sparsely contested throughout the course of an engaging day in North Carolina, with five players eventually sharing the top spot after Scheffler’s late flourish.

Jhonattan Vegas, overnight leader, put the first two holes to his advantage, but bogeys on his first two made him feel less confident, so he finished the day five shots back, six under par.

Along with Rahm, who won the tournament twice and put himself in contention with a round of 67, is him.

DeChambeau, a fellow LIV golfer and a steadfast major contender, was pleased when he took the complete lead after three holes of play, but the American made a bogey and double bogey on his way home to shoot a two-under 69.

Players position themselves for a Sunday challenge on the third day of a major, known as “moving day.”

The play began at the first and 10th tees and the field of 74 players who were competing in three-balls rather than groups of two due to scattered thunderstorms, which caused a delay of more than three hours.

Although the change did not cause any of golf’s star names to falter, Scheffler emerged victorious thanks to a stunning round.

On the 304-yard par-four 14th, which came to rest three feet from the cup, his drive became the catalyst. He then erected an eagle pair.

Before he finally sunk his 10-foot birdie putt and clenched his fist in satisfaction, he finally closed out Quail Hollow’s toughest hole, the 18th, with breath-taking iron play that brought birdies on 15 and 17 and 17 with birdies.

You put your whole life in preparation for major tournament victories, said Scheffler. Tomorrow, I have a good chance to try to win, but it will require a second, particularly strong round.

Scheffler won eight games in 2024, but his season has only won once so far this year because a bizarre hand injury at Christmas prevented him from starting.

However, he won by eight shots in his most recent appearance at the Byron Nelson Classic.

It appeared for a while that a ferocious DeChambeau, who had completed four of his five majors in at least a tie for sixth spot, would take the crown.

The 2024 US Open champion had five birdies and no bogeys on his card, but only for his outstanding round to bring the tension to a halt in Quail Hollow’s challenging “Green Mile” final stretch, which brought the game to a halt.

When he sent his tee shot into the water and made five on the par-three 17th, bogey on 16, compounded. He had to scramble to save a par at the final to reduce his total to five under for the tournament.

He later made fun of the joke that “golf is the worst four-letter word in the world.”

Noren is the pursuit’s leader at eight under par instead. The 42-year-old has only made the top 10 twice in 39 previous major appearances, but his five-under-par 66 from Scheffler put him in the lead.

Given that he only made his first start for more than seven months last week after recovering from a serious hamstring injury, Noren’s performance is even more impressive.

When Rahm approached the eleventh hole, a spectator struck the green, and Rahm had three strokes in the previous ten holes.

The Spaniard immediately went over to check on the crowd member’s condition, and thankfully, Rahm apologized by handing him a signed glove.

Rahm praised him for taking it seriously and being a great sportsman.

I told him that if he had grown up playing football in Europe, he might have aimed the ball a little bit closer to the hole.

He was unable to save par there, but his brilliant second shots at the 14th, 15th, and 16th placed him in the lead, which he relinquished when he bogeyed the 17th to end the day five back.

Rahm’s only top-10 major finish since joining the LIV Tour at the end of 2023 was seventh at the Open last year.

Where I was playing golf had nothing to do with where I was playing, Rahm claimed. Simply put, I couldn’t swing at the level I needed to compete.

“On non-major championship courses, posting a score is simpler. These flaws will be exposed when you travel to the biggest stages, as this one and these courses, and they did.