LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Scottie Scheffler’s pursuit of history came to a surprising end Saturday at the PGA Championship.
A day after he was arrested while trying to enter Valhalla Golf Club, sparking a chaotic and confusing day that – somehow – ended up with him just three shots off the lead, Scheffler went in reverse during what was the second-lowest-scoring third round in PGA Championship history.
Scheffler doubled the second hole after making a mess around the green, then followed it up with back-to-back bogeys to fall well off the pace. The rest of the way he mixed five birdies with three bogeys to sign for a 2-over 73, snapping a streak of 42 consecutive rounds of par or better on the PGA Tour. That mark was 10 rounds shy of Tiger Woods’ all-time record of 52, during the 2000-01 seasons.
Scheffler didn’t talk to reporters after his round, but he told CBS on Saturday: “I was definitely not feeling like myself today, for sure. 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. This morning was definitely not my usual routine for a round.
“At the end of the day, I came out here hoping to have a good round and I didn’t get it done, which is pretty frustrating, but I’ll come back and try again tomorrow.”
Scheffler is now at 7-under 206, in a tie for 24th place, eight shots back of Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa. Since the beginning of March, Scheffler has lost to just a single player in his last five starts.
But this has been a more hectic week than usual for Scheffler.
The world No. 1 arrived on property Monday following the birth of his son, and his week took a chaotic turn early Friday morning when he was arrested while trying to enter the course. Scheffler was booked on four charges – the most serious, second-degree assault on a police officer, a felony – and released about an hour later, after spending time in a holding cell. Even after rushing to the course, and with an abbreviated warmup, Scheffler still managed to shoot 66 and give himself a chance to capture his second consecutive major.
Saturday brought a new twist, as well, with his usual caddie, Ted Scott, back home to celebrate his daughter’s graduation. Scheffler had his friend, Brad Payne, on the bag for what turned out to be his worst score of the season.
“It was a tough day, obviously,” he said. “I got off to a tough start. I was battling as hard as I could all day, but it seemed like every time I made a birdie, I bogeyed the next hole, which is quite frustrating. I made enough birdies to get a decent round, but just way too many mistakes today. Obviously pretty frustrated with the result.”
