Scottie Scheffler overcomes terrible hole to keep lead at PGA ...
Updated
Jun 09, 2024, 07:29 PM
Published
Jun 09, 2024, 07:22 PM
DUBLIN (Ohio) – Scottie Scheffler is looking to maintain his focus for one more round in The Memorial to complete the task before the next Major championship.
“I don’t really change anything,” he said after shooting a one-under 71 on June 8. “I’m going to go out (on June 9) and try and have a good round of golf, keep my head down and stay in my own little world out there.”
Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 golfer, recovered from a disastrous hole midway through the third round and regained control in Dublin, Ohio. He will take a four-shot lead into the final round at Muirfield Village Golf Club. He’s 10 under for the tournament.
“I think you still got to play the course the right way,” he said. “This is one of those places where there’s certain holes where you just got to step up and hit a great shot. There’s a lot of spots out there where if you play too conservative, you can get into some pretty tough spots pretty quick.”
Canada’s Adam Hadwin shot 72, slipping into a three-way tie for second place at six under. Collin Morikawa made a big move by shooting 68, joining Austria’s Sepp Straka (68) and Hadwin in second place. Scheffler and Hadwin both bogeyed the final hole.
“I don’t know if I have a chance,” Hadwin said. “You give four shots to the best player in the world, it’s kind of difficult. But I did go post 66 earlier this week, so hopefully do it again.”
With another Major this week with the US Open in North Carolina, there is no reason for Scheffler to be looking ahead to that opportunity.
“As far as the tournament week goes, I’m here to compete and play my best,” he said. “I’m not really focused on next week at the moment.”
Scheffler played the first six holes at two under, but a triple-bogey seven on No. 9 sent him cascading back to the pack and erased his three-shot lead. That troublesome hole began with a tee shot into the trees that ricocheted out of bounds.
“A really tough break there, but did a good job resetting and bouncing back,” Scheffler said. “Had the nice birdie on 10 and 12 and did a good job kind of staying in the round.”
His three-shot lead vanished, but it didn’t take long to move back ahead. Scheffler got on track with a birdie on No. 10. That began a stretch of three birdies in six holes.
“I love coming out here and competing against the best players in the world on the best golf courses, and this is obviously a pretty challenging track,” Scheffler said.
While any trouble for Scheffler generally seems unusual, he also had a triple-bogey in his most-recent tournament in the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge in May.
He had been at 11 under for the tournament after Saturday’s sixth hole, where his approach shot from a fairway bunker set up a birdie putt.
Morikawa had a bogey-less round. Three of his four birdies came in a stretch from No. 12 to 15.
“I’ve got to go out and put out a round like I did (on June 8),” Morikawa said. “Scottie’s not really coming backwards and I’ve got to play some steady golf.”
Norway’s Viktor Hovland, the tournament’s 2023 champion, was in good shape through seven holes at two under. Then came a seven-hole stretch with five bogeys, including four beginning on No. 11. Later, he tumbled deeper down the standings with a double-bogey six on the 16th hole.
PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele (71) and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg (72) share fifth place at four under.
The best round of the third round belonged to South Korea’s Im Sung-jae at 67, but he’s tied for 11th at two under.
Meanwhile, talks between the PGA Tour and Saudi backers of LIV Golf have accelerated in recent months, most recently at a June7 in-person meeting in New York City, the United States-based circuit said on June 8.
PGA Tour Enterprises’ entire Transaction Subcommittee, a group that includes 15-time Major champion Tiger Woods, was present at the latest meeting with Public Investment Fund (PIF) Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan where more progress was made, the PGA said.
A PIF spokesman told Reuters they were not commenting on negotiations but that “may change at some point”. REUTERS
