Scheffler’s putter goes cold, forcing big comeback for shot at 2nd straight PGA Championship

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler walked off Aronimink with his putter still in the bag, though the defending PGA Championship winner might not have been blamed had he chucked the club into the water.

His putter failed him, and cost Scheffler a major opportunity in a tournament where no standout has emerged and led to a bunched leaderboard through three rounds.

Scheffler will still be in the mix in the final round — 14 players had at least a share of the lead at some point — yet the short game failures only stretched his odds at pulling out another PGA.

A four-time major winner, Scheffler missed six putts inside 10 feet, four of them for birdie. But he made a 9-foot bogey putt on 18 for a 71.

Scheffler shot 1 over in a round where he could have grabbed a healthy lead if not for the muffed putts. Scheffler followed an opening 3-under 67 with consecutive rounds of 1 over. He slipped 14 spots, into a tie for 23rd, and is 5 shots off the lead.

“If I continue to do what I’m doing and hole a few more putts, then I think I’ll be in a good spot when tomorrow ends,” Scheffler said.

The Scheffler who tore through the 2025 season, winning six times in a 4 1/2-month span, hasn’t arrived yet this year. Not even playing his best golf might be enough for Scheffler to pull off back-to-back PGA crowns.

Take last month’s Masters, for a recent example.

Scheffler was trying to pull off what would have been an unprecedented comeback from 12 strokes down after 36 holes. He put a championship round together and shot a 4-under 68 at Augusta National, a terrific finish but he still finished one stroke behind winner Rory McIlroy.

Buoyed by that recent flashpoint for success, Scheffler believed he could play his way through a crowded field of contenders — from unheralded Alex Smalley looking for his first career PGA Tour win, to the blistering hot McIlroy — and shoot his way back to the top and leave with another Wanamaker Trophy.

Scheffler and McIlroy have won four of the last five majors, with McIlroy winning the 2025 and 2026 Masters and Scheffler taking the PGA Championship and British Open last year. They are ranked 1-2 in the world.

“It’s quite literally anybody’s tournament,” Scheffler said. “There’s a lot of guys that have a chance. Going into tomorrow, just somebody is going to have a great round, and I’m going to make sure to do my best to give myself my best shot at being the one who has a great round.”

Scheffler continued to get heckled by Philly sports fans, who chanted the traditional “E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!” chant at the noted diehard Dallas Cowboys fan. He credited the crowd for creating a spirited atmosphere in the first major in the Philadelphia area since the U..S. Open at Merion in 2013.

Just one day earlier, Scheffler said Aronimink claimed “the hardest set of pin locations that I’ve seen since I’ve been on tour, and that includes U.S. Opens.”

He didn’t complain about the pin placement on Saturday and his moments, including a birdie at 11 that had him back to even on his round. Scheffler had more pressing worries than pins, such as putting like a major champion rather than a weekday Aronimink member.

“It’s a challenging golf course and there’s a lot of slope on the greens,” he said. “The winds were quite heavy when we were out there this afternoon, and it’s just tough.”

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Dan Gelston, The Associated Press