Scottie Scheffler ends amazing streak, slides on Saturday at PGA Championship

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A day after proving his reputation as an unflappable competitor, Scottie Scheffler fell off the leaderboard at Valhalla in Saturday’s third round. It was the world No. 1’s first round over par since the third round of the Tour Championship last August.

“I definitely did not feel like myself today,” he said after his round. “Yesterday happened, I did my best to recover from it and come out and compete. This morning was not my usual routine for a round. At the end of the day, I came out hoping to have a good round but I wasn’t able to get it done, which was frustrating.”

With no early morning arrest to deal with, but with a new caddie on his bag, Scheffler began his day with two bogeys and a double bogey through four holes at the Louisville, Ky., golf course.

There was plenty of time to stem the tide but Scheffler could only claw two strokes back from his rough start, shooting a two-over par 73 on a day primed for scoring.

The world No. 1 got headed in the wrong direction early, taking two shots to hack out of the rough at the second hole and making a double bogey. He then hit his approach shot at the fourth hole into a hazard left of the green and fell to four-over on his round.

The Masters champion was looking to win the second leg of the single season grand slam but will need a miracle on Sunday entering the final round eight shots back of leaders Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele who both sit at 15-under.

It’s been a wild couple of days for the world No. 1 after being arrested on his way to Valhalla Golf Club on Friday ahead of his second round. If the events of the week have finally caught up to Scheffler it would be understandable.

Scheffler was also playing without his regular caddie Ted Scott who went home to see his daughter’s graduation. The 27-year-old Texan recently became a father himself. Scheffler has never won the PGA Championship with both of his major wins coming at the Masters.

Last year at this tournament, Scheffler finished tied for second behind winner Brooks Koepka. Koepka also had a rough Saturday, shooting a three-over 74 and falling to four-under for the week.