Scottie Scheffler leads another major championship after three rounds.
This time, he’s four shots clear at the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush, where he fired a 4-under 67 Saturday to push to 14 under. He’s bogeyed just three holes in three days while playing the par-3s in a combined 6 under, including Portrush’s Calamity Corner, the par-3 16th, in 3 under.
Also, consider this stat: Scheffler has not lost the last nine times he’s led after 54 holes.
As Scheffler continues to dominate, the world No. 1 did what he does best Saturday evening, downplaying his performance and advantage heading into Sunday’s final round.
“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.”
But Scheffler’s competitors were more inclined to put Scheffler’s first few days in more detailed perspective.
Here are some of the best quotes from Saturday:
Rory McIlroy
“Yeah, look, Scottie Scheffler is – it’s inevitable. Even when he doesn’t have his best stuff. He’s improved so much with his putter. 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, hopefully he tails out a couple groups behind me, and you never know. But I just need to go out and play another really good round of golf tomorrow and see what happens.”
Matt Fitzpatrick
“Let’s be realistic, he’s five ahead. It’s not easy. But if you get off to a good start, then obviously put a bit of pressure on early doors and hope for the best really. You get 3 under through six, like some of the guys today, 7 the par-5, and all of a sudden you’re kind of right back in it, you would hope. For the most part, you don’t want to be behind, you want to be leading as much as you can. It’s clear what I have to do tomorrow.”
“His putting is night and day obviously. From what you guys all talk about how bad it was at one point, I didn’t play with him really in that period. He’s just not missed a putt today. There isn’t one putt that he’s missed, and that’s obviously the difference that’s taken him to this unbeatable run, which is annoying for me that Phil Kenyon shared those secrets.”
Harris English
“He’s unbelievable. I call Scottie a friend. I’ve known him for a good while since his amateur days. I’m just so impressed with his work ethic. No. 1 in the world for I don’t know how many weeks, but he works harder than anybody I’ve ever seen. He’s got a great system. He’s got — just his belief, and he works like he’s never going to play in another major championship ever again. It’s really impressive. Just a great guy overall. He’s easy to root for. I can’t say anything bad about the guy. It’s impressive to watch, and what he’s doing is incredible.”
Bob MacIntyre
“He’s by far the best player in the world. I remember the start of this year, asked Mike the stats guy, asked Mike to look at all the stats to see how close we are to No. 1 in the world. Mike stopped after a couple of stats checked and he went to No. 2 because he realized it. I mean, when we checked the stats, Scheffler was further ahead of No. 2 in the world than I was at wherever I was, 15, 16 in the world, to No. 2. Yeah, he’s an exceptional player, great guy. Yeah, works so hard.”
