PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — The question Scottie Scheffler was asking of himself at the start of the week could very well be posed to those chasing him in the British Open.
What's the point?
Scheffler delivered another example Saturday at Royal Portrush why he has dominated golf the last three years. He was the only player in the last eight groups not to make a bogey on his way to a 4-under 67 that allowed him to open a four-shot lead as he goes for the third leg of the career Grand Slam.
Scheffler has won the last 10 times he has led after 54 holes. It's never easy, no matter how he makes it look. But on this gorgeous day he was in full command of his game, and now is in prime position to win his second major of the year.
He was helped by a 6-iron to 10 feet for eagle on the par-5 seventh, and saved by three big par saves, two on the back nine, to keep everyone at a distance.
“Talking of execution, he's probably the best in the business right now,” Rory McIlroy said after a 5-under 66 that brought him to only within six shots of Scheffler.
Scheffler had the golf world buzzing earlier this week when he said celebrations don't last but a few minutes. He loves the competition. He loves the work. But in terms of fulfilment, he often questions why he wants to win so badly when the thrill of winning is fleeting.
Ahead of him is competition, and still plenty of work.
He was at 14-under 199, four shots ahead of Li Haotong of China, who delivered his own mystery by saying he had no idea how he recovered from the full swing yips a few years ago to be in the final group of a major for the first time.
Another shot back was Matt Fitzpatrick, who was tied with Scheffler through six holes and couldn't stay with him when the No. 1 player began to pull away. Fitzpatrick missed a pair of short par putts and had to settle for a 71.
The biggest roars belonged to McIlroy, so much that it felt as though all of Northern Ireland was behind him. There wasn't an inch of grass or gorse to be seen beyond the wall of people lining the fairways. There were 30-yard gaps along the ropes for Scheffler.
McIlroy opened with three birdies in four holes. The roar that shook Royal Portrush came on the par-5 12th when McIlroy holed a 55-foot eagle putt that gave him a spark and the gallery hope — even though he still was six behind.
He produced only one more birdie the rest of the way and still faced a big climb.
“I played well enough today to at least feel like I have a chance tomorrow,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, it’s going to be tough to catch him tomorrow if he keeps playing the way he does. But if I can get out tomorrow and get off to a similar start to what I did today, get the crowd going ... you never know. But I just need to go out and play another really good round of golf tomorrow and see what happens.”
After just making the cut on the number, Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., fired a 5-under 66 on Saturday to motor up the leaderboard. The lone Canadian to make the cut was tied for 22nd at 10 shots off the lead.
But this championship is now in the hands of Scheffler, who has been No. 1 in the world longer than anyone since Tiger Woods. And there was nothing Saturday to indicate he was going to make it easy on anyone chasing him.
“I’m just trying to execute, not overthinking things,” Scheffler said. “I feel like I’ve been doing the right thing so far, and I’m looking forward to the challenge of tomorrow."
After his first three-putt of the tournament — making par after reaching the par-5 second hole in two shots — Scheffler made a 10-foot par putt that was as big as any. In deep trouble behind the 11th green, he hacked out to 10 feet to save par, then saved another par from the deep grass left of the 14th fairway.
Royal Portrush has a nasty par 3 at No. 16 known as “Calamity Corner.” Scheffler made birdie for the third straight day, this time a 3-iron that settled 15 feet below the cup.
Each shot helped him pull away from the field. Each shot moved him closer to the claret jug, to go along with the PGA Championship he won in May and the two Masters green jackets he has won in two in the last four years.
McIlroy, who revved up the enormous crowd early, had the most bizarre moment of the championship when he went to gouge out a shot from the rough right of the 11th fairway and a second ball emerged from the turf.
“It's never happened to me before,” McIlroy said. “It could never on any other course but a links course.”
It led to his lone bogey. He responded with that eagle putt and probably needed more.
“Scottie is ... it's inevitable,” McIlroy said. “Even when he doesn't have his best stuff, he's become a complete player."
This is what McIlroy noticed last year, when Scheffler won nine times around the world. What impressed him was that Scheffler played so many bogey-free rounds.
Scheffler picked a great time for another one.
“I think the card could look stress-free, but I had two really nice par saves on the back nine that were key .. two really important putts," he said. “I think any time you can keep a clean card around a major championship, you’re going to be having a pretty good day.”
Fitzpatrick did his best to keep pace, but he missed a 4-foot par putt on the 13th, got a bad bounce on the 17th that led to another bogey and wound up five shots behind.
“Just didn’t make any putts. I didn’t hit it close enough,” Fitzpatrick said. “Drove it well enough, didn’t hit it close enough. Just made way less putts than Scottie.”
Scheffler will be paired in the last group with Li, who made history in 2020 at the PGA Championship when he held the 36-hole lead, becoming the first player from China to lead in a major. Li didn't make his first bogey until the 13th hole, and he dropped another shot on the 18th by driving into a pot bunker.
Scottish Open champion Chris Gotterup, in his first appearance in the British Open, had a 68 and joined the group at 8-under 205 that included McIlroy, Harris English (68) and Tyrrell Hatton (68).
This is Scheffler's largest 54-hole lead in a major — he was up by three shots at the PGA Championship and three shots in the 2022 Masters.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press
