Clinical. Relentless. Boring.
It was a classic Scottie Scheffler performance Saturday at the Open Championship - one that leaves the rest of the field with little hope heading to the final round.
The World No. 1 looked every bit the part around Royal Portrush with a tidy bogey-free 67 to push his lead to four. Haotong Li is the only other man to reach at least 10-under, with Matt Fitzpatrick five back and Rory McIlroy leading the group at 8-under after a sizzling 66.
| Place | Player | Round 3 score | Total to par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scottie Scheffler | 67 | -14 |
| 2 | Haotong Li | 69 | -10 |
| 3 | Matt Fitzpatrick | 71 | -9 |
| T-4 | Rory McIlroy | 66 | -8 |
| T-4 | Harris English | 68 | -8 |
| T-4 | Tyrrell Hatton | 68 | -8 |
| T-4 | Chris Gotterup | 68 | -8 |
| 8 | Xander Schauffele | 66 | -7 |
| T-9 | Rasmus Hojgaard | 70 | -6 |
| T-9 | Russell Henley | 65 | -6 |
| T-9 | Nicolai Hojgaard | 69 | -6 |
| T-9 | Robert MacIntyre | 70 | -6 |
| T-9 | Brian Harman | 73 | -6 |
Royal Portrush was buzzing for a stretch of Saturday's action, especially after Northern Ireland's hero started his day with a bang. McIlroy birdied three of his opening four holes, giving the locals reason to dream.
Scheffler allowed those dreams to grow for the opening six holes of his round, looking a little loose with his irons as he parred that entire stretch. However, he punctured the crowd's hopes with an eagle on No. 7, followed by a birdie at the eighth hole.
An electric 56-foot eagle for McIlroy on No. 12 provided some brief hope for a blockbuster head-to-head Sunday matchup, but two all-world par saves by Scheffler on the back nine squashed that idea. He added a birdie on Portrush's iconic 16th for good measure, hitting a brilliant tee shot on the 239-yard par 3.
The statistics back up the eye test to indicate Scheffler is simply playing at a different level. His usual pinpoint approach play is once again on display; the three-time major winner ranks second in the field in that department through three rounds. However, it's his putting that has been the difference, as he currently leads the tournament on the greens. Add those together and this week simply isn't a fair fight.
"I think there's some pretty subtle slopes in these greens. I've done a really good job just being committed to my line," Scheffler told reporters. "Today I hit some good putts to start the round. I had a little three-putt there on the second hole, but I felt like I hit two putts the way I wanted to and I didn't let it bother me. I made a really nice putt there on the third hole to keep the momentum going. It was a little 10-footer for par, and that was what I felt like was a really important putt, and knocked it in."
While McIlroy gave his best effort to make up ground, neither Fitzpatrick nor Li could do the same despite starting within one and two shots of Scheffler, respectively. Fitzpatrick made noise early with an chip-in eagle on No. 2, but couldn't maintain the momentum. While the Chinese standout did enough to ensure a final-group pairing with the leader, a bogey on the 18th made the deficit four instead of three.
History suggests the trophy engraver can likely prep Scheffler's name, as he's converted nine straight solo 54-hole leads into wins. The Open itself has seen 21 of the last 24 winners enter the final round within four shots of the lead.
Even McIlroy - who's racked up 16 come-from-behind wins on the PGA TOUR - knows Sunday's task is a tall one.
"Scottie Scheffler is - it's inevitable," McIlroy said after the round. "He's improved so much with his putter. Yeah, it's going to be tough to catch him tomorrow if he keeps playing the way he does. But if I can get out tomorrow and get off to a similar start to what I did today, get the crowd going, hopefully he tails out a couple groups behind me, and you never know."
