Rahm, DeChambeau look to make Sunday charge at PGA

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau know how to win majors with a final-round rally. Rahm has done it twice; DeChambeau did it five years ago in the first of his two U.S. Open titles.

But if either LIV Golf captain hopes to enjoy similar success Sunday at the PGA Championship, they’ll need to catch the game’s hottest player who just produced the most sizzling stretch of golf this week at Quail Hollow.

Scottie Scheffler seized control of the tournament with a third-round 6-under 65 Saturday that included an eagle and three birdies in his final five holes to take a three-shot lead at 11 under.

Thanks to his 4-under 67, Rahm is tied for fifth at 6 under. It’s his best position after any round of a major since he joined LIV Golf prior to the 2024 season.

“Hard to express how hungry I may be for a major,” said the Legion XIII captain. “About as hungry as anybody can be in this situation. Very happy to be in position again.”

DeChambeau, who at one point late in his round had the outright lead, is another stroke back at 5 under and tied for eighth after a disappointing finish to his 2-under 69.

“I'm behind the 8-ball now,” said the Crushers GC captain. “I've got to get my guns a-blazing tomorrow.”

With a rain delay Saturday morning forcing an adjustment in tee times, Rahm finished his round 90 minutes before Scheffler. DeChambeau was about an hour ahead.

Around the same time that Rahm spoke to the media, Scheffler was coming off a bogey at the 13th hole and was not even the leader. Rahm, in fact, was only one stroke off the pace at the time.

“That's a great position,” he told the media at that point. “This golf course is tricky, and one shot is nothing on 18 holes.”

Ninety minutes later, his position will now likely require a super-low round and perhaps an off-day for Scheffler.

Rahm has no influence on the latter, but he can certainly make things interesting by building on his Saturday performance that included seven birdies, including three in a row on the back nine. The 67 is his lowest score in his last 18 rounds in majors, dating back to the 63 he shot in the third round at the 2023 Open. He opened this week with a pair of 1-under 70s.

“Very happy with the state of my game,” said the Legion XIII captain and reigning LIV Golf Individual Champion. “I think today was the round that I knew I was capable of. Those first two rounds felt very confident, and just did everything a little bit better.”

For the first 15 holes Saturday, DeChambeau was the best golfer on the course, playing bogey free and eventually taking the solo lead with birdies at the drivable par-4 14th and par-5 15th. He was 8 under at the time and heading to Quail Hollow’s famed Green Mile, which he had played in a collective 1 under the previous two rounds.

But at the par-4 16th, his tee shot found the right rough. He still had a chance to save par, but his 6-foot putt broke left more than anticipated.

“I executed pretty well on the tee shot,” DeChambeau said. “The wind didn't push it left, which was weird to me, and then you know what happened, happened. It was just an unfortunate series of events that I can handle. It's golf. Sometimes that happens.”

Then at the par-3 17th, his 9-iron found the water, and his third shot left him with two putts from 24 feet for the double bogey.

“Hit a great 9-iron exactly the way I wanted to,” he said. “The wind just pumped it. Nothing I can do. … It was just a tale of the wind going into me instead of downwind. It cost me three shots and that's what happens here at Quail Hollow.”

When DeChambeau won the 2020 U.S. Open, he started the final round two shots behind. When Rahm won the U.S. Open the next year, he was three shots behind after 54 holes, tied for sixth.

That 2021 U.S. Open, by the way, is the only other major in which Scheffler, DeChambeau and Rahm were each among the top 10 on the leaderboard entering the final round.

Now DeChambeau is six behind and Rahm five behind. They can’t control what Scheffler does. But they’d like to make life difficult for him.

NEWS AND NOTES

A HIT AND A HUG: Jon Rahm’s 6-iron into the 11th hole was left of its target but ended up on the right side after it hit the head of a fan and rebounded across the entire width of the green.

“Haven’t seen a ball ricochet like that in a while,” Rahm said.

The fan not only was uninjured, he was excited to meet Rahm, who rewarded him with a signed glove. The two then hugged each other, drawing big smiles from both men.

“Sometimes when that happens and they’re not hurt, they are so excited because they know we are going to go there and just have a five-minute conversation,” Rahm said. “He took it great. He was a great sport about it.”

PUIG MAKES A MOVE: Fireball GC’s David Puig has had to battle back issues that threatened his status early in the week. The back must be feeling better, as the 23-year-old shot a 3-under 68 that left him at 2 under and tied for 23rd.

Puig is now in a position to make a run toward a top-15 finish, which would assure him of a spot in next year’s PGA Championship.

NIEMANN SHOOTS 71: Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann also hopes to chase down that exemption, as he’ll start in a tie for 31st at 1 under after his even-par 71. “Pretty tough conditions but I feel like I gave myself a chance to have a good round,” Niemann said.

ROUND 4 TEE TIMES (ET)

8:10 a.m. – Sergio Garcia (with Chris Kirk)

10:10 a.m. – Richard Bland (with Sam Stevens)

10:20 a.m. – Tom McKibbin (with Corey Conners)

11:30 a.m. – Tyrrell Hatton (with Michael Thorbjornsen)

11:50 a.m. – Joaquin Niemann (with Viktor Hovland)

12:10 p.m. – David Puig (with Robert MacIntyre)

2:00 p.m. – Bryson DeChambeau (with Tony Finau)

2:20 p.m. – Jon Rahm (with Si Woo Kim)