Although Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa share a one shot lead into the final round of the PGA Championship, it certainly isn't a two horse race
Louisville, home of the Kentucky Derby, will play host to quite the final day race, with a packed leaderboard meaning that picking a winner will not be easy.
Lead data analyst, Justin Ray shared the following on X:
"40 of the last 41 men's major winners have been within 4 shots of the lead entering the final round. Exception: Justin Thomas, 2022 PGA, 7 back."
There are nine players within four shots of the lead and 23 within seven shots, this list includes seven Major champions.
The most notable name missing from this potential 23 PGA Championship player race at Valhalla is World Number one Scottie Scheffler who broke his run of even par or better rounds that stood at 42, after a third round two-over-par 73 dropped him (potentially) just out of the race in a tie for 24th at seven-under-par. It would seem that the adrenaline that had helped him play through Friday had worn off and the enormity of the situation of his arrest may have been playing on his mind.
Schauffele and Morikawa hold the lead
Still at the top of the lead but this time sharing it is Xander Schauffle, who is looking to break his Major duck. The American doesn't seem to have been able to match his form after shooting 62 on Thursday, two 68s have followed but this does not mean he's not ready to contest on Sunday:
"Just like any other tournament for the most part. It's another Sunday. I typically love Sundays. I think I need to really just stay in my lane and do a lot of what I've been doing and just worry about myself."
Fellow American Collin Morikawa will be teeing it up alongside him at 15-under-par. The two-time Major Champion has been consistent with rounds of 66, 65 and 67 and will pull on all his experience to get into the right frame of mind:
"I'm going to tap in just kind of that mental state I've been in, not only those two, but in other tournaments I've played well in. I think the goal for me tonight before my tee time is just to be as mentally sharp by that first hole."
The chasing pack in Valhalla
One shot back is another American Sahith Theegala who is in new territory having not contended in a Major to date, his best finish was ninth at the Masters last year. Needless to say, he is not putting any pressure on himself:
"I have no expectations for tomorrow and thankful for the opportunity to be out late on Sunday at a major in contention. I know my game is good enough to compete. It's kind of what I'm going to base it off of tomorrow and there's a bunch of guys that are just absolute world-beaters and major championships ahead of me and behind me. So I'm going to have to play my butt off but I'm just really excited for the challenge tomorrow."
Lowry goes low on Saturday
There aren't only Americans in the mix, Saturday definitely belonged to Ireland's Shane Lowry (62) and England's Justin Rose (64) who shot a combined 16-under-par when playing together alongside Jason Day.
Lowry had an opportunity to shoot 61, the lowest round in men's Major history, but his birdie putt came up inches short. Saturday is known as moving day and that's exactly what the 2019 Open Champion did, moving from tied in 29th to a share of fourth at 13-under-par.
"Obviously you come here the start of every major championship, and you know what it means to win one of theme. I've been fortunate to do it before, and to win one is pretty good, but to win multiple, you're kind of a bit of a different level."
DeChambeau eagles 18
Lowry shares fourth with Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland. DeChambeau chipped in for eagle on 18 to get to 13-under-par:
"Exhilarating. I haven't felt like that in a long time. The only other time I felt like it was when I shot 58 at Greenbrier. That was pretty exciting there. I was pretty pumped."
Like Lowry, the American already has a Major to his name, whilst Hovland is still in search of his first. Having seen a dip in his form, Hovland is getting back to his best but won't be putting too much pressure on himself after being in contention at the PGA Championship for the last two years:
"My life is going to be pretty good if I don't win tomorrow, and I'm going to have a few more chances after this, as well. All I'm going to do is just show up, do the best I can, and we'll see how it goes."
European players in the mix
The other players making up the nine player race within four shots of the lead are Justin Rose (-12), Robert MacIntyre (-12) and Dean Burmester (-11).
And what of our W&G predictions? Defending champion Brooks Koepka probably played his way out of contending with a third round 74 and is at four-under-par, as stated Scheffler is seven-under-par, whilst Rory McIlroy is eight-under-par. So much for predictions! However, there is no way we could have predicted what would happen off the course and its potential impact on the players.
The PGA Championship is often thought of as the fourth men's Major. Regardless, there is no doubt that as Major Sundays go, this is going to be an interesting one. So place your bets and let the best horse, I mean man win.
Coverage of the final round starts at 2pm BST on Sky Sports Golf. View the full PGA Championship leaderboard here.
