Scottie Scheffler's run of consecutive par-or-better rounds ended at 41 after the third round of the 2024 PGA Championship on Saturday.
Scheffler had not exceeded the course's par since the third round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club on August 26, 2023. It was the second-longest run ever on the PGA Tour behind Tiger Woods' 52 during 2000-01.
But the current World No.1 endured a tumultuous penultimate outing at Valhalla Golf Club, recording five birdies, five bogeys, and - crucially - a double bogey on his way to signing for a two-over 73.
Speaking to CBS, Scheffler said: “It was a tough day, obviously. I got off to a tough start. I was battling as hard as I could all day, but it seemed like every time I made a birdie, I bogeyed the next hole, which is quite frustrating.
"I made enough birdies to get a decent round, but just way too many mistakes today. Obviously pretty frustrated with the result.”
After shooting 72 in the 3rd rd of the @PGAChampionship Scottie Scheffler admits he was mentally a bit off today saying, “I talked to my lawyer on the phone to try and process what really happened. I don’t think it hit me until this morning what actually transpired yesterday.”May 19, 2024
What was perhaps curious about the two-time Major winner's struggle was that it happened more than 24 hours after his arrest for assaulting a police officer outside Valhalla rather than on the day of the event.
The 27-year-old was arrested and charged on Friday before being released without bail and making it to the course less than an hour before his scheduled tee time. But as Scheffler tends to do, he defied logic and produced sheer brilliance to card a second-round 66 (-5).
Yet, given another night to sleep on what had happened, Scheffler admitted the enormity of the situation finally caught up with him.
Speaking to Golf Channel's Todd Lewis briefly after the third round, the American said: “I talked to my lawyer on the phone to try and process what really happened. I don’t think it hit me until this morning what actually transpired yesterday.”
Then, answering questions with CBS, Scheffler elaborated slightly. He said: "I was definitely not feeling like myself today, for sure. Yesterday happened, and I did my best to recover from it, and come out here and compete today. I did a great job yesterday of coming out and competing, riding the adrenaline.
"This morning was definitely not my usual routine for a round, if that makes sense. At the end of the day, I came out here hoping to have a good round and I didn’t get it done, which is pretty frustrating, but I’ll come back and try again tomorrow.”
Scheffler was without his usual caddie, Ted Scott, on Saturday after the looper took a day off to attend his daughter's high-school graduation ceremony. PGA Tour chaplain, Brad Payne worked as Scheffler's stand-in bagman on Saturday but is expected to cede responsibility back to Scott for Sunday's final round.
Scheffler begins his final round at Valhalla on seven-under in a tie for 24th, eight shots behind co-leaders Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa.
