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The lead after 54 holes at Valhalla Golf Course was tied between Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa.
Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa are tied for first place after three holes of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club. Shane Lowry tied for the low major round.
At Valhalla, Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa were tied for first place after 54 holes, then Shane Lowry shot a nine-under-par 62 on Saturday, matching the lowest round in major golf history.
The 37-year-old Irishman tied the mark four times before, the most recent being in Thursday’s first round by Schauffele. Morikawa and Theegala finished tied on 15 under, with Morikawa shooting 68 and Theegala third, both Americans.
Third in the world Schauffele, seeking his first major championship, had double bogey at 15 but responded with tap-in birdies at 17 and 18.
“Bouncing back was big. It’s wonderful to have a share of the lead at least,” Schauffele said. “Need to stay in my lane, keep doing what I’m doing and hope it’s enough.”
Lowry’s bogey-free round left the 2019 British Open champion, who began the day eight strokes down, sharing fourth on 200 with American Bryson DeChambeau and Norway’s Viktor Hovland.
“I’m going to have to keep going,” Lowry added. “A lot of guys are playing great golf. The course is gettable. And like you see today anyone can come from way behind.
“I’m going to go out tomorrow and see if can get that trophy.”
Other 62s have been made by Schauffele and American Rickie Fowler in the first round at last year’s US Open and the 2017 British Open by South African Branden Grace.
Lowry birdied eight of the opening 14 holes, made birdie putts of 37 feet at 13 and 32 feet at the par-3 14th and one from just outside six feet at 17 to build the tension.
“I felt like I was just going to keep making birdies,” Lowry said. “I just kept rolling them in. I got off to a wonderful start.”
At 18, Lowry had a birdie putt from just inside 12 feet for 61 but missed, stating, “It has been a long time since I’ve seen this so I’m not going to complain.”
Scheffler fades
Schauffele birdied from just inside four feet at the par-5 seventh – his first birdie in 15 holes – and added others from just outside 21 feet at the par-5 10th and just inside 30 feet on the par-3 14th.
Tokyo Olympic champion Schauffele has not won any event since the 2022 Scottish Open, having had 19 top-10 PGA Tour finishes in the nearly two years afterward.
Two-time major winner Morikawa opened with a bogey but a 30-foot chip-in birdie at the third and a closing 10-foot birdie putt held him level with Schauffele.
“This week has been about taking one shot at a time, figuring out what you have and playing golf,” said Morikawa. “I’ve been doing a good job of that and I have 18 more holes to do that.
Theegala birdied six of the last 10 holes, a tap-in at 18 kept him one adrift.
“I know my game is good enough to compete,” Theegala remarked. “I’m going to have to play my butt off.”
A competitor who faded was world number one Scottie Scheffler , who posted a two-over 73 – his first over-par round of the year – a day after getting detained . He stood on 206, eight adrift.
Scheffler, 27, faces accusations of felony assault of a police officer, criminal mischief, careless driving and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic.
“I definitely did not feel like myself but yesterday happened and I came out and did my best,” he remarked.
Scheffler stumbled early with a double bogey at the par-5 second and bogeys at three and four. Scheffler birdied the fifth and 18th but after three additional birdies he made a bogey on the next hole.
“Tough day. Got off to a difficult start,” he said. “Was battling all day but seemed to follow every birdie with a bogey. Way too many mistakes. Pretty frustrated about the day.”
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Jordan Spieth, requiring a victory to complete a career Grand Slam, birdied three of the last four holes to shot 67 and stand on eight-under 205.
Also on 205 was second-ranked Rory McIlroy, a four-time major winner who filed for divorce from wife Erica on Monday. McIlroy shot 68.
