PGA Championship Update
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The golfer closest to PGA Championship leader Scottie Scheffler is Alex Noren, a 42-year-old from Sweden. Interestingly, he’s only played four PGA Tour rounds this year because of a hamstring tendon injury.
Noren is currently at 8-under par, trailing Scheffler by three shots after posting a 5-under par 66 on Saturday.
Ranked 72nd in the world, he hasn’t won any of his 184 PGA Tour appearances but has been a runner-up three times. On the other hand, he has claimed victory ten times on the DP World Tour.
“It feels good,” Noren commented about his performance. “I put it together,” he added.
During his time off due to injury, he’s been spending quality time with his family and coaching his daughter’s softball team. “It’s much easier to take this break now at 42 than when I was younger,” he reflected. “I consider myself lucky to be in this position.” He described the injury as “bad” for golf, but it gave him a chance to live a normal life at home.
“But, you know, I couldn’t swing a club, jump, or run,” he mentioned. Still, he found joy in coaching his kids and enjoyed the familial time. “That was very good,” he remarked.
If Noren can keep up the momentum, he might just have a shot at achieving the biggest win of his life on Sunday.
Historically, in the past 40 PGA Championships, 37 winners have been within four shots of the lead going into the final round. If that trend continues on Sunday, Noren, along with Davis Riley and JT Poston, might have a chance to close the gap on Scheffler.
Noren’s previous experience in a major was during the 2008 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, where he finished T-5.
Based on the leaderboard, Keegan Bradley had a solid finish, closing with a par on 16 and a birdie on 17, bringing him to five under par—six shots behind the lead as he heads into the final round.
“I’m proud of how I finished the last three holes,” Bradley said, noting the difficulty of those holes. “What a way to finish it,” he added.
Unfortunately, the issue of mud balls hasn’t gone away during the tournament.
“You really have to be careful because the mud balls are still a problem,” Bradley remarked. “There were a few tough ones. You just have to hold on.”
Interestingly, Saturday marked a pivotal moment in Scheffler’s major championship career as he shot the best round of the day with a 65. He had rounds of 69, 68, and now 65 this week, showcasing improvement each day. He became the ninth player and the first since Dustin Johnson in 2020 to achieve this.
Scheffler was the 54-hole leader in the last two majors, namely the 2022 and 2024 Masters. He has participated in the final group of major championships three times, including twice at the Masters and once at the PGA Championships in 2020.
He, along with Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, are among the few to be in the top ten of the leaderboard leading into the final round at Torrey Pines during the 2021 US Open.
