Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa (-15) sit atop a stacked leaderboard after an eventful Moving Day at the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla.
Valhalla, still wet, played soft once again, opening the door for low scores. Shane Lowry (-13), as Schauffele did in Round 1, tied the major championship single-round record with a 62 — despite parring two par-5s. His playing partner, fellow UK-lad Justin Rose (-12), carded a blistering 64.
“The course was playing pretty low today,” said Morikawa. “I assume tomorrow is going to be the same.”
Schauffele, the solo leader after the first two rounds, continues to exude command of Valhalla. The no. 3 player in the world was as solid as can be en route to a 3-under 68.
Schauffele's lone slip-up came at the blades of the brutal fescue on No. 15. He was unable to chip the ball cleanly, resulting in a double-bogey. Schauffele entered the hole two strokes up on Morikawa, who birdied the par-4. By the 16th tee box, Morikawa led by one.
Schauffele, though, responded with a birdie-birdie finish.
“It was big for me,” Morikawa said about the scoreboard swing on No. 15. “You gotta take advantage of that. I lipped it in. It was a 360-lip-in. Sometimes you need those things to just kinda go your way. Xander fought back.”
Morikawa's only bogey of the round came on par-4 second. The two-time major winner described his third round as “steady.”
“I felt like the way I was driving the ball heading into the week, I felt like I was going to be able to contend,” he said. “But, obviously, it's nice to put that together, see the scores, and have 18 holes left tied for the lead.”
Morikawa and Schauffele will tee off at 2:35 p.m. ET on Sunday. Can Xander finally earn his coffee at a major?
“It's another Sunday,” said Xander. “I typically love Sundays.”
Sahith Theegala (-14) — who played with Morikawa and Schauffele — compensated for unsteady ball-striking with casual creativity and nifty scrambling, none better than his outrageous flop shot on No. 15, which came moments after Schauffele's mistake.
Theegala carded a 31 on the back nine.
Lowry is joined at 13-under by Viktor Hovland and Bryson DeChambeau.
DeChambeau — one of two LIV Golf League representatives in the top-10 (Dean Burmester is ninth at -11) — finished his 4-under 67 third round in style, with a chip-in eagle on No. 18.
“Exhilarating,” said DeChambeau. “I haven’t felt like that in a long time.”
Louisville-native and two-time PGA Champion Justin Thomas (-10, 67) sent the hometown crowd into a frenzy with an absurd chip-in of his own.
“It was crazy,” said Thomas. “I had goosebumps for pretty much right up until I got to 15 tee. As you know, it’s not exactly cool outside. It was one of the coolest moments of my career. It was unbelievable.”
Jordan Spieth (-9, 67) shot his third straight encouraging round in 60s, though he needs a miracle to complete the Career Grand Slam.
Rory McIlroy won't recreate magic on the 10-year anniversary of his last major win — the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla. McIlroy briefly got the grounds buzzing with four consecutive birdies from Nos. 7-10, but two-putt bogeys on the par-3 14th and par-4 16th stalled his momentum.
Scottie Scheffler (-6), one day after getting arrested then shooting 66, shot a 2-over 73 — his first over-par round on the PGA Tour since August. (Scheffler's caddie, Ted Scott, was out on Saturday to attend his daughter's graduation.)
“I did not feel like myself today,” the World No. 1 admitted in his post-round interview on CBS. “Yesterday happened and I did my best to recover from it and come out here and compete today. I did a great job yesterday of coming out and competing, riding the adrenaline and this morning was definitely not my usual routine for a round, if that makes sense.”
Scheffler was off from the get-go. He followed up a sloppy double-bogey on No. 2 with two bogeys.
“I talked to my lawyer on the phone to try and process what really happened,” Scheffler said at his press conference. “I don’t think it hit me until this morning what actually transpired yesterday.”
Overall, 15 players will hit the pillow in Louisville within five strokes of the lead heading into Sunday at a major. In other words: we've got ourselves a horse race at the PGA Championship. Aptly, the 18th hole at Valhalla, located near Churchill Downs, is named “Photo Finish.”
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