Key events
Scottie Scheffler’s second into the par-five is almost a carbon copy of Jon Rahm’s effort 20 minutes ago. He’s unlucky too, as a pearler bounds past the flag and down the swale. Rahm couldn’t get up and down for his birdie. If Scottie is able to manage it, this will be all over … unless the golfing gods have some payback stored up for yesterday’s sensational play along the Green Mile.
Bogey for Matt Fitzpatrick on 18, and he finishes the week at -4. Back up on the tee, Bryson DeChambeau flirts with the creek down the left but the ball snags in the semi-rough and he’ll just need a wedge to get on. And Jon Rahm can’t get up and down from the sand at 16 to save his par. His knees buckle in frustration. He’s going to need some help from Scottie now.
-11: Scheffler (14)
-8: Rahm (16)
-7: DeChambeau (17), Poston (15)
-6: English (F)
Jon Rahm’s ball is buried in thick rough on the bank to the left of 16. It’s well above his feet. He scythes a 7-iron through the filth, and powers his ball greenward … but it disappears into a bunker front-right. Once he’s moved up the hole, back on the tee Scottie Scheffler hits his driver, and sends it straight if not particularly long by his own standards. The momentum is firmly with the world number one now.
Scottie bashes out of the sand at 14, making light of the awkward lie. His ball rolls eight feet past, and he’ll have a good look at birdie coming back up the slope. Meanwhile on 17, Bryson isn’t going to die wondering, and makes sure his 40-foot putt doesn’t, like Frank Costanza, stop short. But it’s always missing high on the right. Par … and it’s beginning to look like a second near miss in the majors in little over a month, because back on 14, Scheffler rolls in his birdie putt, and the world number one has rediscovered his mojo since the turn. It could be enough for his third major title.
-11: Scheffler (14)
-9: Rahm (15)
-7: DeChambeau (17), Poston (14)
Rahm sends his tee shot at 16 down a bank to the left of the fairway. He effs and jeffs, as is his occasional wont. That’s not ideal either.
Bryson sends an 8-iron into the front of the par-three 17th … but it’s way short of the flag. He wears the solemn look of a man who knows that, if he doesn’t drain the long birdie putt he’s left himself with, the jig is up. Meanwhile back on 14, Scottie Scheffler finds the bunker front right of the green. He’ll have a downhill lie, which isn’t ideal.
Jon Rahm’s birdie putt on 15 is always staying high on the left. That’s another poor putt. He’s had a couple of unlucky bounces on the last couple of holes – and that lip-out just before – but the flat stick has let him down twice in short order. Meanwhile par for Bryson DeChambeau at 16, and bogey for Matt Fitzpatrick at 17. The benefits of Fitzpatrick’s eagle at 14 have been snatched back with haste; he’s -5 and out of it for sure.
-10: Scheffler (13)
-9: Rahm (15)
-7: DeChambeau (16), Poston (14)
Jon Rahm skelps his second at the long par-five 15th towards the flag, tucked back-right. More bad luck, as his ball topples off the edge and down a swale. He gets the Texas Wedge out, and nearly holes it … but he’s given it too much and he’s left with a ten-footer coming back for birdie. Meanwhile a two-putt par for Scottie Scheffler at 13.
Scottie Scheffler lands his tee shot at the par-three 13th on the top tier of the green. He’s not particularly close – 25 feet perhaps – but that tier’s where the flag is. Jon Rahm launches his drive successfully down the par-five 15th. Meanwhile how’s this from the 2011 champ Keegan Bradley? Birdie at 13, birdie at 14, eagle at 15! He’s a bit too far behind at -5, but that’s catapulted him up the standings. Back in a rich vein of form, will he have to relinquish his US Ryder Cup captaincy in order to play? He might have to, you know.
Scottie Scheffler isn’t in gung-ho mode right now. He aims for the heart of the 12th green, declining to chase the pin, and lags his 20-foot birdie effort short. He tidies up for par, and he’s one hole closer to glory. He’s also one hole closer to the Green Mile, so you can spin this situation both ways.
-10: Scheffler (12)
-9: Rahm (14)
-7: DeChambeau (15), Poston (13)
-6: English (F), Fitzpatrick (16)
“Oh Rahmbo! Wide right!” A member of the gallery explains what happens after Jon Rahm splashes out of the bunker at 14 to six feet. Big chance turned down and he remains one off the lead. Meanwhile up on 16, Matt Fitzpatrick comes up too quickly from a short putt and that’s an unnecessary bogey that drops him back to -6.
-10: Scheffler (11)
-9: Rahm (14)
-7: Fitzpatrick (15), DeChambeau (15), Poston (13)
Scottie Scheffler has missed a lot of shots to the left today. We’ve belaboured this point, to be fair. But it looks like he’s finally got the ship steadied, because at 12 he splits a third fairway in a row. Just as well he’s fixed the issue, given how much trouble is down the left along the Green Mile. Meanwhile up on 15, Bryson DeChambeau sends his approach up a vegetation-strewn bank at the back of the green … but whips an elegant chip to kick-in distance for a birdie that brings him back into view as well. This is bubbling up deliciously!
-10: Scheffler (11)
-9: Rahm (13)
-7: Fitzpatrick (15), DeChambeau (15), Poston (12)
Scottie prowls around the putt awhile. This could be huge. He gives it the legs, but not enough to the right of the cup. It dies to the left on its final turn. Par. Alex Noren bogeys again and at -5 his race is run. Up on 14, another unlucky break for Jon Rahm after that lip-out, as his tee shot into the driveable green takes a wicked bounce right into a bunker. Meanwhile on 12, JT Poston rakes in a long birdie putt to get himself back into the picture. Again.
-10: Scheffler (11)
-9: Rahm (13)
-7: Fitzpatrick (15), Poston (12)
-6: English (F), DeChambeau (14)
… and he makes it … hold on … no he doesn’t, it lips out. Oh my. Jon Rahm gives his big left-to-right curler everything. It looks on a fine line. It looks perfectly paced. It looks in. It dips. But somehow it refuses to drop, pops back up, and horseshoes around the lip, left to right. How did that not go in?! Just a par, and here’s how thin the margins are: Scottie Scheffler caresses an 8-iron pin high from 170 yards on 11, and it’s now his turn to have a run at birdie, from 13 feet.
That Scottie Scheffler birdie must have calmed a few jangling nerves. Because now he crashes a drive down the middle of 11. That’s two fairways found in succession, which was pretty much a give for him yesterday, when he hit 13 of 14, but was far from the case on the front nine this afternoon. But Jon Rahm remains in buoyant mood, and clips his tee shot at the par-three 13th pin high. He’ll have a look at birdie from 20 feet to draw level at the top again.
Scottie Scheffler finally regains some forward momentum! He splashes out of the bunker at 10 to ten feet, then steers in the right-to-left curler. Bogey for Alex Noren, however, having carelessly sent his third into sand. On 11, JT Poston hands back the shot he’s just picked up after chunking a chip. Meanwhile on 12, Jon Rahm wedges to ten feet but can’t make the birdie effort. All change at the top, again, with Bryson mopping up for birdie on 14.
-10: Scheffler (10)
-9: Rahm (12)
-7: Fitzpatrick (14)
-6: English (F), DeChambeau (14), Poston (11), Noren (10)
Scottie Scheffler creams his second at the monster par-five 10th greenward … but again there’s a little more draw than he’d fancy, and the ball takes a kick off to the left and into a bunker. Meanwhile up on 14, Bryson DeChambeau sends his tee shot up the Adam Scott bank … but unlike the Aussie, he manages to gently lob onto the fringe and slowly release his ball to a couple of feet. That could have been disastrous; it should lead to a birdie that brings him immediately back into contention.
Local lad JT Poston joins the party at -7 with birdie at 10. A reminder that he’s already got one North Carolinian victory on his resumé, having won the 2019 Greater Greensboro Open (now known as the Wyndham, but c’mon). Another incoming?
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. If Jon Rahm wins this, he’ll have the chance to join Rory McIlroy and his pals in the Career Slam club at Portrush in July. Just saying.
… but Bryson DeChambeau is going the wrong way. From the back of 13, he leaves a short chip seven feet short, then sends the next one four feet past. He does well in the circumstances to steady himself and make the one coming back, but that’s a bogey to follow a short birdie miss at the previous hole. And made the wrong time. He’s -5.
Jon Rahm teases his downhill 15-foot right-to-left slider at 11 into the cup for a third birdie in four holes! He’s now the co-leader! Scottie Scheffler needs a response, and gets one on 10, striping his drive down the par-five. What he’d give for a momentum-shifting birdie here. And speaking of a momentum shifter, here comes Matt Fitzpatrick, chipping out of the thick rough behind the short par-four 14th … and in for eagle! He’s back in the race!
-9: Rahm (11), Scheffler (9)
-7: Fitzpatrick (14), Noren (9)
While Scottie Scheffler leaves the door creaking invitingly ajar, folk further up the track are making mistakes as well. Bryson DeChambeau chips up to six feet on 12, only to stab miserably at his birdie chance. He remains at -6. Adam Scott, meanwhile, sails his tee shot at the driveable par-four 14th onto the bank to the right of the green. Short-sided, and worried about the water on the other side of a downward sloping green, he fluffs his chip into a bunker. He can’t scramble for a sandy par, and moves back to -5.
Scottie Scheffler, with two huge lumps of mud on his ball, manages to guide his 27-foot putt from the fringe to the lip. He tidies up for a bogey that, all told, could have been a whole lot worse. But he’s taken 37 on the front nine, while Jon Rahm continues on his blemish-free way, and he’s on the 11th in regulation, with a 15-footer for birdie. It’s possible – and this seemed so improbable just an hour ago – that there will soon be a tie at the top!
-9: Scheffler (9)
-8: Rahm (10)
-7: Noren (9)
In the rough – deep, not semi – down the left of 9, Scottie Scheffler finds himself snookered by a couple of trees, 200 yards out. Even a man of his talent and power can only swipe his ball 50 yards short of the green. Then his wedge in bounds past the flag and nearly off the back. His ball nestles up against the collar, and has a spot of mud on it as well. That won’t improve his mood. Trouble here.
Jon Rahm makes his birdie putt on 10. This … this is major-championship Sunday. This is on.
-10: Scheffler (8)
-8: Rahm (10)
-7: Noren (8)
-6: English (F), Scott (13), DeChambeau (11), Vegas (10), Poston (9)
Scottie Scheffler keeps pulling his tee shots. He’s missed left at 2, 5, 7, 8 and now 9. This latest one not dramatically so – he’s in the semi-rough – but factor in pulled approaches at 1 and 3, and this is a problem he’ll need to solve quicksmart. Not least because Jon Rahm has just clipped a wedge at 10 to three feet, and has a huge chance of a birdie that would reduce Scheffler’s lead to two.
Scottie Scheffler chips down from the bank. It’s decent, but not out of his top drawer. He leaves himself a 12-footer and doesn’t give the putt enough on the high side. It breaks apologetically to the left. Another par. Alex Noren has a birdie chance from eight feet, but misreads and lets a huge chance to further close the gap at the top go by. Scottie breathes again. They’re -10 and -7 respectively. Meanwhile Matt Fitzpatrick flays his drive into deep trouble down the left of 12, and barely manages to get out of it with his second, but eventually does well to limit the damage on 12 to bogey, getting up and down from an unpromising position off the back of the green. However he slips back to -5.
Scottie Scheffler is definitely feeling the pressure now. He whistles his tee shot at the driveable par-four 8th into the gallery atop a bank to the left of the green. Meanwhile Jon Rahm batters his drive at the par-five 10th down the middle. To repeat: Rahm would love to be in the same match as Scheffler now, engaging in hot mano-a-mano action. Given the current momentum and mood, Rahmbo would be in his element.
Alex Noren isn’t finished yet, and he gets up and down from greenside sand for birdie at 7 to grab himself a share of second. Meanwhile back-to-back birdies for JT Poston at 7 and 8, while Jon Rahm makes a staunch 12-footer for par at 9 to turn in 34. This felt over 40 minutes ago. It doesn’t feel that way so much now.
-10: Scheffler (7)
-7: Rahm (8), Noren (7)
-6: English (F), Scott (12), Fitzpatrick (11), DeChambeau (10), Vegas (9), Poston (8)
Two putts for Scottie Scheffler on 7, and that’s a par. Not the worst result given the direction of his drive. Meanwhile Tony Finau is always out of position on 10, going from bunker to rough and bunker again, and that’s a careless bogey on a hole that’s averaged 4.7 shots this week. Plenty given up to the field, there. That also explains why Bryson isn’t happy with his par, but at least unlike his playing partner, he’s still at -6.
… meanwhile Jon Rahm is the first to move in a more positive direction! He lashes his tee shot at the short par-four 8th pin high, but just off the green to the right. He chips up to three feet, and tidies up for birdie. Meanwhile back on 7, Scottie’s a bit sloppie again, his tee shot far enough to the left that branches force him to lay up, and then with nerves jangling, he plays his approach safe, aiming for the centre of the green rather than the pin. Par is likely, and it’ll steady a ship that isn’t yet listing wildly, but perhaps rocking gently like Val Doonican. A reference for the pop kids, there.
-10: Scheffler (6)
-7: Rahm (8)
The first big mistake from the chasing pack arrives courtesy of Davis Riley. His wedge into the par-five 7th plops into the water guarding the front right of the green. That wholly unnecessary mistake is compounded by a three-putt from six feet, and leads to a triple-bogey eight. He moves down the rankings to -3, and his race is surely run.
Scottie Scheffler can’t save himself this time. It looks like he’s made a fairly straight uphill ten-footer, but it kinks off to the left just before reaching the cup. He’s surprised. But as Dame Laura Davies says on Sky: you can’t hole them all. Birdies meanwhile for Matt Fitzpatrick at 9 and 10, and Jhonattan Vegas at 7 and 8 … and what about this?! If Scottie starts to feel the heat, this is so on.
-10: Scheffler (5)
-6: English (F), Scott (10), Fitzpatrick (10), DeChambeau (9), Finau (9), Vegas (8), Rahm (7), Riley (6), Noren (6)
