US PGA Championship 2024: third round – live | US PGA

Scottie Scheffler’s tee shot into 3 isn’t all that. On the green, but only just, and a long, long way from the pin. His first putt stops eight feet short, and the attempt to save par is always missing to the left. Another shot gone, and the world number one is three over for his round through three holes. He’s -6. Meanwhile a careless three-putt bogey for Collin Morikawa at 2. But a fine birdie for the local hero Justin Thomas, at 6, and the two-time champion rises to -7.

Brooks Koepka has already defended the PGA Championship once in his career. It’s looking increasingly unlikely that he’ll repeat that trick this week. The reigning champion went into the day nicely placed at -7, but having dropped a stroke at the 1st, he’s compounded the error with a three-putt triple-bogey at 5. He slips back into the pack at -4. Ah well, he’ll always have Oak Hill. And Bellerive. And Bethpage Black.

Bob MacIntyre stemmed the bleeding with that staunch par save at 3. Now he’s started turning the ship around, finding a greenside bunker with his tee shot at the shortened par-four 4th and nearly holing out for eagle. He tidies up to move back to -7, and this entry has been a mixed-metaphor masterclass.

Patrick Reed slam-dunks a 77-yard chip straight into the cup at 18. A most elegant way to turn an over-par back nine into a one-under 35. The erstwhile Masters champion is -4.

Scottie Scheffler is both the world’s best golfer and one big strong dude. But even he can’t gouge his ball out of the thick oomska down the left of the 2nd green. He gets it halfway up the hill. His second attempt comes out hot, the ball flying 30 feet past the flag and only just staying on the green. Two putts later and that’s a double bogey. Not a single shot played well, and you have to wonder if the travails of yesterday are about to take their toll in a delayed whammy. Scottie’s -7.

Shane Lowry’s not too far away from draining a long eagle putt on 7. Birdie will do. He taps in for his fifth of the day, then his playing partner Justin Rose continues their shot-for-shot routine by rolling in a 12-footer for his fifth birdie today. This is superb stuff from two of Europe’s finest. England’s first win at the PGA since 1919 – or perhaps Ireland’s since 2008 – is a live possibility!

-12: Schauffele (1)
-11: Morikawa (1)
-10: Rose (7), DeChambeau (2), Theegala (1)
-9: Lowry (7), Hubbard (1), Scheffler (1), Detry (1)

In the meantime, Rory McIlroy makes an outrageous escape on 6. Having flown his second down a swale to the back of the green, he does all he can to whip up from thick rough to 15 feet. Shortsided, it was about the best he could do. But in goes the putt! He stays at -5. And back on the 1st, the leader Xander Schauffele chunks a chip from the back of the green. It’s a most uncharacteristic error, but he rolls in the 12-foot par putt he’s left himself, a steely reset. He stays one clear of Collin Morikawa at -12.

“Free Scottieeeeeeee!!!” It’s already a thing, isn’t it, and it won’t be going away any time soon. Mashed potato cranked all the way up to 11. The words ring around the course as Scheffler belts his drive at 2 into a fairway bunker down the right. Then he nearly pulls his second into a creek along the left. A big up and down attempt coming along here.

Opening par for Scottie. Slightly disappointing, seeing he’d landed his second pin high to ten feet, and the putt that remained was pretty straight. Meanwhile up on 2, Tony Finau batters a drive 333 yards, then wedges from 131 yards to six feet. In pops the putt, and there’s somebody else moving in the right direction.

-12: Schauffele
-11: Morikawa
-10: DeChambeau (1), Theegala
-9: Rose (6), Finau (2), Hubbard (1), Scheffler (1), Detry (1)
-8: Lowry (5), Herbert (4), English (2), Burmester (2), Eckroat (1), Hovland (1)
-7: Bradley (4), Thomas (4), Wallace (1)

“This could be the lowest scoring day in major-championship history,” opines Sky commentator Paul McGinley. No wind, soft greens, warm sunshine, all that. This being the case, you don’t want to be going backwards too much at any given point. So it’s a big putt for Bob MacIntyre on 3. Having dropped a shot at 2, he’s facing another bogey at 3. Unless he makes a 15-footer, he’ll effectively be making his fourth in his last five holes of play. But in it goes, and Scotland’s only representative here remains at -6.

Shane Lowry is this close to holding out from a greenside bunker at 6. That’s an end to his run of birdies, though. Tom Hoge drains a monster from downtown on 17, his fourth birdie of the day, and he’s -6. And there are opening birdies for Bryson DeChambeau and Austin Eckroat. A lot of players throwing darts, with the course there for the taking.

Another huge ovation for Scottie Scheffler. He bashes his opening tee shot down the middle of the track. If becoming a new father and jailbird isn’t enough in the way of lifestyle change for the world number one this week, he’s now got to deal with a new caddie as well. Brad Payne, the PGA Tour chaplain, carries his bag, while his full-time looper Ted Scott is absent for the day as he’s attending his daughter’s high-school graduation. Scott is expected back for the final 18.

A fourth birdie in a row for Justin Rose! This one comes after rattling in a 15-footer at 5. He’s going round today with the 2019 Open winner Shane Lowry, and the big Irishman is matching him shot for shot! Four birdies on the bounce as well, between 2 and 5, and holy moly, let’s update the leaderboard for the first time today.

-12: Schauffele
-11: Morikawa
-10: Theegala
-9: Rose (5), Detry, Scheffler, Hubbard, DeChambeau
-8: Lowry (5), Herbert (3), English (1), Burmester (1), Eckroat, Hovland
-7: Wallace (1), MacIntyre (1), Finau (1)

Jordan Spieth’s dream of completing his major-championship set this week is not yet kaput. The 2015 Masters winner, 2015 US Open winner, and 2017 Open winner crashes his second from 240 yards to eight feet at the par-five 7th, and makes the eagle putt to move to -5. With not much wind and the greens receptive after so much rain, expect a day of low scoring. Someone will surely make a burst from the pack.

Birdie for Rory McIlroy at 4. They’ve moved the tee box up at this already short par-four, and now most of the players can reach the green with a 3-wood. So they’re all going for it, reward with not too much risk involved. It’s playing at an average of 3.4 today, so birdie is closer to par than, er, par. You get the gist. Anyway, that’s the ninth birdie at this hole so far; the other six scores recorded have been pars. Rory’s back to where he started at -5.

Bob MacIntyre was running hot last night. Having found a hospitality area to the left of the 7th, it took the officials 25 minutes to give him a ruling regarding his drop, and though he went on to make his par, his rhythm was lost. Bogeys at 8 and 9 to finish, and he left the course “really annoyed”. His mood wouldn’t have been improved when sending his approach at 1 into the bunker back left of the green, and finding himself with a downhill lie. But he splashed out elegantly to a couple of feet, and tidied up for his par. He remains -7 and perhaps that’s put an end to his sequence of woe.

Hopes are rising for Justin Rose, though. The 2013 US Open champ finished strongly yesterday, back in 32, a brilliant eagle on the last in the gloaming. Hartley Wintney’s finest is taking full advantage of that momentum, and has opened his round today in searing fashion, with birdies at 2, 3 and now 4. All of a sudden, from worrying about the cut yesterday, the 43-year-old Englishman is -8 and very much part of the discussion!

Here we go, then, the start of Moving Day. Or, to put it another way, the point at which Rory McIlroy’s latest bid to end his long major drought starts going south. Hopes had been raised with that fine street-fighting 66 on Thursday, but yesterday’s level-par 71 ceded ground to the leaders. As a result, a low score is required today, with a slow start being of no use whatsoever. And sadly a slow start is exactly what he’s serving up. Bogey at 1 after a visit to a greenside bunker. He’s one-over for his round through 3, and -4 overall.

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