15 players in five shots predict an attractive outcome for the second major of the season
Scheffler, with his first round over par of the year, is eight shots off the lead
MADRID, 19 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The PGA Championship, the second major of the season, was tightened from the top this Saturday with many players with options to take victory on Sunday at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville (Kentucky), United States, without Spanish tricks.
Jon Rahm and David Puig missed the cut on Friday, while Adrián Otaegui resumed the postponed second day this Saturday, without managing to scratch a ‘birdie’ of the four remaining holes that would have allowed him to continue in the fight.
The third round kept the same names at the top, tied this time and paired again for Sunday with -15, Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa. With the rains, the soft greens, many showed no mercy, attacking the flags and a course that has been losing ‘respect’ over the days.
Schauffele opened the door to several more pursuers with a ‘double-bogey’ on the 15th hole, remembering that there are still many dangers out there. All in all, the American remains in the lead from day one, trying to end his jinx in the majors after 11 Top 10s, the last one a month ago in Augusta.
Morikawa, a two-time Grand Slam champion, including a PGA Championship in 2020, seems like his biggest rival, but in truth the pools are open like rarely before for a major Sunday. Sahith Theegala, also an American, is third, one stroke behind the co-leaders, and two are the Irishman Shane Lowry, the American Bryson DeChambeau and the Norwegian Viktor Hovland.
Lowry broke into the top zone with a record 62, equaling the best card by a ‘great’, while DeChambeau also showed his chest in a serious performance that he rounded off with an ‘eagle’ in the 18th. Hovland remains on top and is a good asset for the European conquest on Yankee soil, like the Englishman Justin Rose, seventh after another great ‘moving day’ that filled the tournament with candidates.
Of all of them, although further than usual in 2024, Scottie Scheffler is not ruled out, although at -7 he has a lot of rivals ahead of him. The world number one, champion of four tournaments (including Augusta) and second in the other one played this year, signed his first card over par of the season, with license to have his head in disarray after his police arrest on Friday.