Moving day at the 2024 US PGA Championship: Everything you’ve missed from Saturday’s third round
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The 106th PGA Championship at Valhalla is underway and we’re here to ensure you don’t miss a thing from the third round action.
Things you missed at the PGA Championship: Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
After Friday’s tragic start at Valhalla Golf Club that subsequently unfolded into one of the most bizarre sequences of events in the history of professional golf with Scottie Scheffler’s arrest, PGA Championship organizers will be happy to see ‘golf’ doing the talking again on ‘Moving Day’.
Morikawa and Schauffele share the lead
The pair shot rounds of 67 and 68 respectively to share the overnight lead on 15-under, meaning they will be the final group on Sunday.
Morikawa’s last Major win came at the 2021 Open Championship. He also won the 2020 PGA Championship.
Schauffele is yet to break his Major duck. He’s finished tied-second in The Open and The Masters, while his best finish at the PGA Championship was a T-10 in 2020.
A packed leaderboard sees Sahith Theegala one shot back, with Shane Lowry, Bryson DeChambeau, and Viktor Hovland all a further shot back at 13-under.
Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre sit at 12-under.
“That leaderboard is massive,” said Schauffele at the end of play.
Shane Lowry going low(ry)
The Irishman and 2019 Open Champion was four-under-par at the start of Saturday’s third round after back-to-back 69s in the opening two rounds, but charged up the leaderboard with a scintillating 62 that matched Xander Schauffele’s opening round 62, tying the course record and the lowest-ever round recorded at a Major championship.
Lowry’s round included nine birdies and no dropped shots, with his putt on the 18th missing by inches for what would have been a record-breaking round.
Lowry gained 6.4 strokes putting in Saturday’s round, a career high. His 11.26 strokes gained putting through from Thursday to Saturday are the most shots gained through three rounds by anyone in a PGA Tour event during 2024.
Koepka collapsing
Defending champion Brooks Koepka is going backwards after a nightmare moving day. Having got himself into contention late on Friday and hoping to take advantage of low scoring conditions and press for the lead on Saturday, he’s gone backwards.
Rose chases history
There’s more than a second Major title on the line for Justin Rose, whose third-round 64 puts him in contention at 12-under for the tournament.
The Englishman, who flew up the leaderboard playing alongside Shane Lowry on Saturday, would be the first to win the PGA Championship since its second playing back in 1919. Jim Barnes defended the title then, when the event was still matchplay, having won the inaugural playing in 1916 before World War I forced the postponement of the next two tournaments.
Paul Casey was the last Englishman to go close to winning the Wanamaker Trophy as he finished runner-up to Collin Morikawa at TPC Harding Park in 2020. Before that, it was David Lynn, who finished runner-up to Rory McIlroy at Kiawah Island in 2012. Whatever happened to David Lynn, I hear you cry. Well, here’s your answer.
Scottie slips away
Perhaps Scottie Scheffler was confused after doing his full pre-round warm-up at the course rather than in a jail cell, or perhaps not having regular caddie Ted Scott on the bag proved costly. Whatever the reason, a two-over-par 73 saw Scheffler slide down the leaderboard and, realistically, out of contention.
With birdies galore across the course, Scheffler made a sloppy double-bogey on the 2nd before making bogeys on the 3rd and 4th hole.
It was the first time Scheffler had made three consecutive bogeys or worse in a round since August 11, 2022, at the FedEx St. Jude. Scottie went 646 days and played 2,470 official PGA Tour holes between three-straight-bogey stretches.
PGA Tour chaplain Brad Payne strapped up in place of Scottie’s trusted looper Ted Scott, who took a 24-hour sabbatical to attend his daughter’s graduation, a commitment that had been agreed in advance by the pair before the tournament.
“Teddy is going home Friday night, coming back Saturday evening after the graduation,” said Scheffler. “That’s something we talked about from the beginning of our relationship, was family always comes first, and it’s the same thing for me as it is for my caddie. It was a pretty easy decision.”
Scottie Scheffler shot level par or better for 265 days straight, changed his caddie and shot a 2-over 73. Is Ted Scott the best caddie in the world?
No Grand Slam but a first for Spieth
Barring a sensational final day, Jordan Spieth’s hopes of completing the Career Grand Slam appear over for another year, but he did achieve a personal first at Valhalla on Saturday. The Texan made a three on the par-5 7th to record the first eagle of his PGA Championship career in his 43rd round. It was Spieth’s 763rd hole since making his debut in 2013.
McIlroy leaving himself too much to do?
Rounds of 66-71-68 leave McIlroy on seven-under going into Sunday’s final round. Whilst McIlroy is capable of the spectacular, the omens aren’t good.
40 of the last 41 men’s Major winners have been within four shots of the lead entering the final round. The only exception? Justin Thomas’ 2022 PGA Championship victory, which saw him start the day seven shots back.
Will Rory ever win another Major? We’re not so sure.
Bryson and Burmester lead LIV charge
The top page of the leaderboard isn’t exactly littered with LIV stars but Bryson DeChambeau and Dean Burmester are both in the mix.
Hovland rediscovers game
It has been a while since we’ve seen Viktor Hovland perform anywhere close to the level that saw him clean up at the business end of 2023 on the PGA Tour and Ryder Cup. A five-under 66 on Friday dragged the Norwegian up into the top 10 for the weekend and right in the mix to challenge for the Wanamaker Trophy, with the Norwegian repeating the feat with another 66 on Saturday to sit 13-under going into Sunday’s final round.
Hovland has recently started working again with his long-time swing coach Joe Mayo who he’d fired at the turn of the year after failing to make a top-10 finish this year and missing the cut at the Masters.
“It was a nice score. Very happy with where I’m at,” said Hovland. “The game hasn’t been all too easy the last few months, so happy to build some momentum and shoot two nice rounds in a row. Made some birdies out there. Chipped the ball really well. Made a couple of putts. We’re definitely trending.”
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Rob specializes in the DP World Tour, PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and the Ryder Cup, spending large chunks of his days reading about, writing about, and watching the tours each month.
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Xander Schauffele leads a bunched leaderboard going into Saturday at the PGA Championship
