PGA Championship: Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa share lead as Shane Lowry matches major record at Valhalla | Golf News
Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa hold a share of the lead after a gripping third round at the PGA Championship, where Shane Lowry made history and a host of players moved into major contention.
Schauffele birdied his last two holes to close a second successive 68 at Valhalla Golf Club and move to 15 under alongside Morikawa, who posted a four-under 67 to bolster his hopes of a third major title.
Sahith Theegala – completing the final threeball after a lengthy fog delay left players going out in threeballs – produced a back-nine 31 to get within a shot of the lead, while Lowry’s bogey-free round equalled the lowest round in men’s major history.
Watch every birdie from Shane Lowry’s record equalling men’s major round as he shot a nine-under-par 62 at Valhalla in the third round of the PGA Championship
Lowry shares fourth spot with Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland, with Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre a further stroke back in tied-seventh alongside his Ryder Cup playing partner Justin Rose.
Rory McIlroy fell seven behind after a three-under 68 and Jordan Spieth also heads into the final day on eight under, while world No 1 Scottie Scheffler slipped out of contention after seeing his streak of 41 consecutive rounds of par or better ended with a two-over 73.
Rory McIlroy shot a three-under-par 68 during the third round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla which included an impressive run of four consecutive birdies
Schauffele locked with Morikawa after historic Saturday
Schauffele – starting the day one ahead – holed from 10 feet to save par at the first and temporarily saw his advantage double when Morikawa missed a five-footer to save par at the next, only for his paying partner to bounce back with a chip-in birdie from just off the third green.
Both failed to take advantage of the driveable fourth hole and saw several of the chasing pack move closer to the lead, with McIlroy making four consecutive birdies around the turn and Lowry joining Rose in making five birdies in a six-hole stretch on their front nine.
Rory McIlroy made four straight birdies during the third round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla, the venue of his last major win in 2014
Morikawa pulled level with a 15-foot birdie at the fifth but was unable to add another at the par-five seventh, where Schauffele two-putted from 60 feet to edge back ahead, with pars over the next two holes seeing the Olympic gold medallist stay one ahead at the turn.
Lowry – playing several groups ahead – had raced to a front-nine 29 and followed long-range birdies at the 13th and 14th by converting from six feet at the 17th to go nine under for the day, before setting the clubhouse target after narrowly missing his chance for a ’61 round’ at the par-five last.
Shane Lowry made over 160 feet of putts on his way to equalling the lowest round in men’s major history
The Irishman held a share of the lead until Schauffele started his back nine with a birdie, with the American missing chances at the 11th and 13th to drain a 30-foot birdie at the par-three 14th and temporarily go two clear.
A dramatic three-shot swing at the par-four 15th saw Morikawa jump ahead with a six-foot birdie, as Schauffele duffed a chip in the rough on his way to a double-bogey, with Theegala chipping in from off the green to find himself one back in tied-second.
Collin Morikawa’s ball took a tour of the hole before dropping to give him the lead at the par-four 15th, having started the hole two behind
Schauffele fired his approach to three feet at the 17th and converted the putt to pull level with Morikawa, who had to lay up at the par-five last but converted from 10 feet to match his playing partner’s birdie and move both to 15 under.
DeChambeau chipped in for eagle at the par-five last, where Hovland two-putted to card a third for a third birdie in four holes to close a bogey-free 66 and also get to 13 under, with 15 players heading into the final day within five strokes of the lead.
Bryson DeChambeau eagled his final hole of the third round at Valhalla in the PGA Championship to jump to 13-under-par and tied second
More to follow…
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