World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler started the third round of the PGA Championship tied for the lead. By the end of the day the heavy rain had subsided at Oak Hill, but he now finds himself four shots behind leader Brooks Koepka and tied for fifth place after shooting 3-over 73.
Scheffler started the round with two uncharacteristic bogeys on the first two holes, then made two more on Nos. 6 and 7 and suddenly he was well off the lead and looked completely out of sorts. However, he steadied the ship by rattling off more pars and made his lone birdie of the day on the par-4 14th hole but never mustered more than that. Koepka shot a second consecutive 66 and sits at 6 under par.
Still, although disappointed, Scheffler seemed in good spirits.
“I'm pretty proud of how I fought,” he said. “I stayed in it. I think I'm only four back going into tomorrow. I started driving it really good on the back nine, and that will be important if I'm looking to make a run tomorrow.”
Scheffler played in the last group of the day Saturday and only played in bad conditions for the first six holes. But he admitted that instead of hitting approach shots to 10-15 feet like he usually does, he was hitting approaches more around the 20-25 feet range, which set up more difficult putts, which he was much less likely to make.
“I hit what felt like a lot of good putts today that didn't really get the results that I wanted to,” Scheffler said.
Those results need to appear on Sunday if the reigning PGA TOUR Player of the Year is going to have a chance to win his third event of the year. A victory would also give him a second major title, and first at the PGA Championship.
“I didn't shoot myself out of it on a day where the condition were tough and I didn't have my best stuff,” Scheffler said. “I hung in there pretty good and didn't post the number I wanted to, but I'm still only four back going into tomorrow, and if I go out and have a great round, I think I'll have a decent chance.”
A little luck goes a long way.#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/OR7VbsKoXB
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 20, 2023
