Golf-Scheffler storms home, leads PGA Championship by three

By Frank Pingue

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) -Scottie Scheffler capped the third round of the PGA Championship in style to grab a three-shot lead over Sweden's Alex Noren on Saturday at Quail Hollow Club where the world number one has a third major title in his grasp.

Scheffler followed a back-nine eagle with a birdie and then picked up two more strokes over the tricky three-hole closing stretch known as the Green Mile for a six-under-par 65 that was the day's low round and brought him to 11 under on the week.

After two days of staring at a leaderboard that did not pack the usual star power many expect from a major championship, some of the game's biggest names did their part to deliver a drama-filled third round that featured several lead changes.

Jhonattan Vegas squandered his overnight two-shot cushion after a bogey-bogey start but by the time he made the turn was sharing the lead with Scheffler, twice major champion Jon Rahm and reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.

But it was Scheffler who pulled away late, starting with the stunning eagle at the par-four 14th where he made an eagle after his tee shot settled within three feet of the cup.

The twice Masters champion followed that with a birdie from five feet at the par-five 15th, another at the par-three 17th with a perfectly-paced putt from 17 feet and at the last where he putt from nine feet that found the heart of the cup.

Noren began the day five shots back of 36-hole leader Vegas but stormed home with four birdies over the last five holes to enter the fray.

Sitting four shots off the pace in a two-way share of third place were Davis Riley (67) and J.T. Poston (68). Spaniard Rahm (67) was a further shot back with South Korean Kim Si-woo (71) and Vegas (73).

Rahm, seeking his first major since joining LIV Golf in December 2023, was cruising along after three consecutive back-nine birdies but followed that with a bogey to drop back.

Vegas, who led after each of the first two rounds, looked set to slide out of contention after a shaky start but he kept his scorecard clean the rest of the way to keep alive his hopes of a maiden major title.

DeChambeau, who began his day five shots off the pace, was enjoying a bogey-free day and grabbed the outright lead with a birdie at the par-five 15th where he got up and down from a greenside bunker before a sudden turn of events.

DeChambeau, who finished runner-up at last year's PGA Championship, bogeyed the 16th and made double-bogey at the par-three 17th where his tee shot ended up in the water. He is six shots back of Scheffler in a share of eighth place.

Inclement weather caused a nearly 3-1/2 hour delay to the start of the third round which, as a result, led to a decision to send players off in groups of three from split tees instead of pairs from the par-four first.

(Reporting by Frank PingueEditing by Christian Radnedge and Pritha Sarkar)